End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
07-09-2010, 01:34 PM
#1
End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
The rising cost of AFR's has been apparent lately, especially through the U.S. vendors. The link below illustrates the reasons for current increases and what the near future holds. It may explain new product delays and numerous "out of stock" labels thoroughout many online vendors.
It didn't take a crystal ball to see this coming and it arrived faster than many supposed. If you see an available ARF at a good price now better grab it. Either the ARF or the good low price will go the way of the Dodo by the end of 2010.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT
My personal stash of kits and ARF's is looking pretty good.
It didn't take a crystal ball to see this coming and it arrived faster than many supposed. If you see an available ARF at a good price now better grab it. Either the ARF or the good low price will go the way of the Dodo by the end of 2010.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT
My personal stash of kits and ARF's is looking pretty good.
07-09-2010, 01:47 PM
#2
RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
Good news/Bad news.....
U.S. made products will make a comeback as the labor costs begin to equalize. Bad news is the the U.S. market will have to pay more for the goods we purchase. I agree with you....buy what you want, NOW.
U.S. made products will make a comeback as the labor costs begin to equalize. Bad news is the the U.S. market will have to pay more for the goods we purchase. I agree with you....buy what you want, NOW.
07-09-2010, 02:24 PM
#3
Senior Member
RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
Iimagine production will start moving to places like Vietnam as China gets more expensive. Quite a few ARF's are already built in those countries.
07-09-2010, 06:31 PM
#6
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RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
Pfft...
Give it a year...someone else will come along willing to make "good enough" toys/computers/airplanes/baseball gloves at a lower price than the rest of the world...the only thing that'll change is the last word in "Made In ____________"
=============
There's ALWAYS going to be 5 classes of any manufactured good :
1) Cheap and crappy.
2) Cheap and good enough.
3) Expensive and "high end consumer" quality.
4) Very high priced "professional" quality.
5) Ridiculously priced "appeal to emotion/status/ego" goods that should be in category 2, but aren't.
Guess what...SOMEONE SOMEWHERE will ALWAYS make each of those products. If it's not China today, it'll be Lower Elbonia tomorrow. Those 5 products will always exist, and any time a culture/company/country stops making one of them, there's money to be made for someone else to step in and take over.
07-09-2010, 07:08 PM
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RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
While other countries might re-think manufacturing inside China, increased wages inside the country will only spark the consumption of Chinese made goods by the Chinese. As their midde class grows, they will be able to grow their own economy with, or without, the rest of the world. 1.6 billion people is a very large market.
If anyone thinks China is simply going to fade away - think again. They've established a major presence in almost every industry you can think of. IMO, they will continue to be a world supplier of competitive goods for a very long time.
dpspl
07-09-2010, 07:57 PM
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RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
Duh!!! How much do we owe China in loans !!!!!!!!!! If we're not carefull, in 10 yrs,we'll be speaking Chinese!!!!!!!!
07-09-2010, 08:00 PM
#9
Senior Member
RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
I don't think the point is that they are going away but they are changing. It is probably inevitable. They'll continue to grow, develop a larger middle class, and be a serious global player but they won't be dumping as many low-cost products around the world. My guess is that they will evolve into manufacturing more expensive, higher quality goods like you see from Japan and others. The cheap stuff will move to some developing nation. I imagine it will be a fairly gradual change though. Just my guess; I have no real credentials that qualify me to really know.
07-09-2010, 09:30 PM
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RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
China is a larger exporter than the United States. As a matter of fact, so is Germany (pretty impressive when you consider their size).
China also enjoys a large trade surplus. They export far more than they import. I really doubt that will change any time soon.
dbspl
07-15-2010, 02:59 AM
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RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
ORIGINAL: ChuckW
I imagine production will start moving to places like Vietnam as China gets more expensive. Quite a few ARF's are already built in those countries.
I imagine production will start moving to places like Vietnam as China gets more expensive. Quite a few ARF's are already built in those countries.
07-15-2010, 04:10 AM
#14
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RE: End of inexpensive ARF's is coming.....
They are also moveing inside of China -from bad areas to good and still keep prices down . I think that is step one in the evolution process .
Let me explane , many of the suppliers do not want to be in the dregs of the industrial bows , so they make the money , and buy up .
Secondly , in the regular import business consumer products especially food , China is being quietly banned by US companys . What I mean is your not seeing this publisized , but they are looking for any country but China , example , Spain .
The problem is that China in its ability to adapt has in some areas the highest standards (BRC ) Britsih Regulatory Consordium ) for manufacturing approvals .
This makes it very difficult for the current US important to replace these product at the cost .
If you look at the current supply of ARF next generation like Top Flight P40 , you will see that the ability to execute a standoff scale model and QC seems to have increased two fold . Time will tell but with the big guys like Horsion and Great planes attending to details on the new planes , I think the prices will be up moderitly for the expressed value .
Again defined as $50 to $75 for a plane that would cost you $200 more to build at the same level .
The Gold Edition P40 unbuild avg $179 for a box of wood . Add the time and things needed to finish less servos , motors and retracts and your thru a building servace your at $500 , on your own your probably at $350 .
So for the expressed price of $315 , prior to Tower discounts /coupons , this is one hell of a deal . Even the Giant size .
The PIca P40 kit when released was $379 , the 1/6 was $279 ,
To build the 1/5 scale would be close to $900 between everything needed non including the flight support -glass , expoxy , finishing materials ect ,
so I dont know that arfs are actually going up .
One last thing , CHina wont allow sales of ARfs to drop prior to trying to reach the end consumeryou and me directly .
That is exactly what happened with ESM and KMP esm watched infalted KMP sales drop US sales , so they switched distributors so they would have a lower markup into the USA
Let me explane , many of the suppliers do not want to be in the dregs of the industrial bows , so they make the money , and buy up .
Secondly , in the regular import business consumer products especially food , China is being quietly banned by US companys . What I mean is your not seeing this publisized , but they are looking for any country but China , example , Spain .
The problem is that China in its ability to adapt has in some areas the highest standards (BRC ) Britsih Regulatory Consordium ) for manufacturing approvals .
This makes it very difficult for the current US important to replace these product at the cost .
If you look at the current supply of ARF next generation like Top Flight P40 , you will see that the ability to execute a standoff scale model and QC seems to have increased two fold . Time will tell but with the big guys like Horsion and Great planes attending to details on the new planes , I think the prices will be up moderitly for the expressed value .
Again defined as $50 to $75 for a plane that would cost you $200 more to build at the same level .
The Gold Edition P40 unbuild avg $179 for a box of wood . Add the time and things needed to finish less servos , motors and retracts and your thru a building servace your at $500 , on your own your probably at $350 .
So for the expressed price of $315 , prior to Tower discounts /coupons , this is one hell of a deal . Even the Giant size .
The PIca P40 kit when released was $379 , the 1/6 was $279 ,
To build the 1/5 scale would be close to $900 between everything needed non including the flight support -glass , expoxy , finishing materials ect ,
so I dont know that arfs are actually going up .
One last thing , CHina wont allow sales of ARfs to drop prior to trying to reach the end consumeryou and me directly .
That is exactly what happened with ESM and KMP esm watched infalted KMP sales drop US sales , so they switched distributors so they would have a lower markup into the USA
