On 24 Mar 2005 16:18:26 -0800, "Magician"
wrote:

Hi All

Having been in the industrial equipment market for 30 odd years, can I
make a few points about 'cheap' power tools and just why our Chinese
friends can make them so cheap.

A huge part of the cost of a new product - Bosch with the jigsaw, Skill
with the circular saw, is development. Not just the huge cost of
developing the tool, but developing the market for it.

If you look at the progress of any product in marketing terms the
initial sales of a new product will be low - people resist new ideas
and it takes time to get new products accepted. You don't make any
money at this stage.

I'd disagree with this, a product fills a 'need', then the market is
created by its price, for instance mobile phones.

snip

Simple facts are; that cheap Chinese power tool from Aldi was probably
once a top of the range brand manufacturers pride & joy. But due to
overheads you will find the same product at different prices.

It is now entirely possible to have power tools that are made cheaply
but not cheaply made. You may be buying old technology, but there is
no reason to suspect inferior quality in every case.

I expect the Chinese have developed their own tooling, and are just
manufacturing what their customers (DIY chains, catalogue shops etc)
want, which is tools that are cheap but passably good.

cheers,
Pete.