JEDDAH: Ibrahim Naffee
Published — Wednesday 22 January 2014
‘Made in China’ label discourages Saudis
China may have emerged as a major outsourcing destination for Western companies and brands to manufacture their products, but
in Saudi Arabia, the “Made in China” mention on labels of even popular brands is enough to discourage Saudi consumers from buying them. This is mainly because of popular perception among the citizens that all Chinese products are fakes.
Some vendors have specialized in selling counterfeit products. They sell watches of Swiss brands, which are not genuine. But the vendors are still in business because they know that some consumers buy the fakes since they can’t afford genuine products that are expensive.
“If anyone wants to buy a genuine watch of a reputable brand, he must then go to one of its authorized agents. But when they come to us, we know they want to buy a cheaper, counterfeit watch of a reputed brand. That’s why we are in business,” a Yemeni vendor in downtown Jeddah said.
Chinese counterfeit products, particularly clothes and shoes carrying Western brand names, have flooded the market.
‘Made in China’ label discourages Saudis | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.
Buy Chinese stuff but make sure its genuine! Otherwise you guys will meet the same fate as I did when my iPhone died an inglorious death one week after I bought it! Sheeesh!!
It turned out to be an expensive Chinese fake! Yep! I got suckered too!