The world’s largest watch expo catches a cold
12.09.09 / Watch Industry News / Author: admin / Comments: (0)
Tags: Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair
The world’s largest watch expo, the 28th Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair turns out to be a little sluggish as some statistics and interview show.
At the watch fair
The fair closed on September 6th. Despite attracting more than 700 exhibitors from 17 countries and regions, actually the numbers of the exhibitors decreased by 5% compared with last year. The decrease of the exhibitors shows that the watch makers is still worried about the prospect of the market.
For those who took part in the exhibitions as exhibitors, many said their turnover at the fair had fallen by 20 to 30 per cent. According to many exhibitors, buyers became more cautious. “In the past, the buyers usually placed orders quickly soon after they check the watch. But this year, they take several times longer to confirm the orders” One salesman told the reporter.
“People don’t want to spend more on watches these days. But I think luxury brands should have been affected more than the cheaper watches,” said Jitendra Chawla from Sprinto Time, an exhibitor at the fair.
The fair is a weatherglass in the industry. This most important purchasing event in the industry attracts buyers from all over the globe. But exhibitors said many buyers have opted to cautiously window shop this year instead. It seems the sector is still far from recovered, although the global economic crisis has been lasted for almost one year, since the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers on Sept. 15, 2008.
“I try to get the cheaper version to accommodate my clients’ budget and all that,” commented one buyer, who was at the fair.
Despite the current sluggish business, many believed that the worst time has passed. Some expect the business could turn around in the middle of 2010.
New Watch Design Trends
Where is the way out for the watch industries? What’s the watch design trends in the future?
Elise Tsui, Director of Commerce and Trade Division with the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades & Industries, recently talked about her opinions in an intervew. She said, watches has been evoled from sheer timing tools into personalized accessories. More and more people are demanding an individualized watch. So watches with strong style will be more and more popular. The popular watch will features precious stones and many decorative elements.
Some Hong Kong watch designers pointed out that there is not much changes in recent watch designs, but they will continue to combine the current manufacture techniques with different materials to creat brand new products.
Consumers will become more demanding and rational, Tsui said, so watch makers should concentrate more on building the watch function, brand value and brand culture.
I think this is also ture for replica watch makers. The global economic crisis really gives replica watch a great development opportunities. Replica watch maker should keep up with the development of new techniques and keep on improving their product quality. Only if they can create high quality replica watches with exactly the same look as the original watches, will people be willing to buy replica watches.
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