Credits: Flickr Creative Commons: bfishadow
“Shan-zhai”山寨 (shan-ji) refers to Chinese imitation and counterfeited brands and goods or knock-offs. The words literally mean “mountain village”, where production is far away from official control. At first, Shanzhai was used to describe fake and pirated products from electronic gadgets to TV shows, from New Year galas to social websites, from wine to medicine. But now it is transforming into a phenomenon, a philosophy and an expression of innovation.
Here are three things that will make you rethink Chinese Shanzhai.
More bang for your buck
Shanzhai mobile phones, for example, have more functions than the authentic products. On top of the normal stuff, like touch screen, video players, camera, you have functions like automatic wallpaper change by shaking, water-proof case, four SIM cards coexistence and compatibility of IOS and Android systems at the same time. These functions developed by Shanzhai companies to meet local people needs are hard to ignore. Hence it is natural to see that the multifunctionality with various appearance designs and of course low price only – 20% of big brands’ price – Shanzhai product could appeal to the Chinese market.
Shanzhai pride
The knock-off culture speaks to achievement, for many Chinese people. And it dates back to ancient times. One of the best known Chinese paintings – Qing Ming Shang He Tu – (“Along the River During QingMing Festival”) was copied through ages. Except for the original one in Beijing, the other 7 copies are kept in Tai Pei and exhibited to the public. Before the idea of Intellectual Property was planted firmly in everyone’s minds, the average Chinese would still value quality over originality.
Shanzhai products represents good quality at a low cost in a massive, short-cycle production, and so it’s regarded as a strong competitor in the market instead of mere copycat.
Shanzhai also represents a grassroots culture, a fearless challenger to powerful opponents. Many Shanzhai supporters say ShanZhai products can help break monopolies held by expensive product makers, while at the same time encouraging innovation at lower costs. Shanzhai is a new braveness, supported by many people in China.
From copycats to innovation powerhouses
The Shanzhai marketplace is a very competitive industry. There is no room for complacency because today’s backyard imitator could be eating your market share tomorrow. The success of Shanzhai is largely dependent on companies’ ability to disrupt the status quo by inventing new strategies and products tailored to the local market. Such intense market transforms previous Shanzhai companies to new big names. Mobile company, Tianyu, once a Shanzhai company, is playing a dominant role in domestic and overseas markets. Future Cola, once labeled as a cheap copycat of Coca-Cola, has risen to the third player in the Chinese market, right after Pepsi. And QQ, once a Shanzhai version of ICQ (chat), now has 80% of the market with nearly 800 million monthly active users. QQ’s newly launched product Wechat has also gained worldwide popularity. Companies started with the Shanzhai mark, have turned out to be the most successful and innovative Chinese companies.
The article is not aiming to justify Shanzhai acts, but for brands who are annoyed by Shanzhai products, maybe it’s time to reconsider its approach to Shanzhai companies and learn lessons from them.
Written by Meng Xu @XuMengKen
