China Economic Weekly interviewed several small and medium-sized electronic device factories in Shenzhen and Dongguan. Under the two-way pressure of rising product costs and insufficient profitability of order information, these factories are undergoing a new round of major changes.
"The more order information you receive, the more you lose."
In this round of "price rising tide" of raw materials, the pressure resistance of export-oriented electronic device factory is the most important.
"In 20 16 years, everyone's profits were not very cheerful, and most of them were reduced by half. This round of prices continues to rise, and I feel that the work pressure at other levels has also increased. The final disagreement is concentrated on the break of the capital chain. " A person in charge of the operation of a factory engaged in the import and export of electronic equipment in Shenzhen told the reporter that compared with garment factories and stationery factories, hardware factories have large investment in their own property projects, involving many types of raw materials, and are more vulnerable to sudden price increases.
As one of the concentration places of traditional electronic device factories in Shenzhen, Fuyong Street in Bao 'an District was once famous for the sudden bankruptcy and high loan of Judian Information Technology, a listed company on the New Third Board two years ago. This time, the publicity announced by Shenzhen Kidd High-tech has once again attracted the attention of the industry.
"The enterprise decided to terminate its operation on April 29th, 20021year; From April 30, the labor contract relationship with all employees will be eliminated. " Shenzhen Jide Hi-Tech said in the publicity that due to the decline in profits in this field, the increase in costs, the deterioration of the export environment, and the pneumonia epidemic in COVID-19, enterprises went through fire and water, but they were unable to change their business difficulties by taking various countermeasures, so they decided to terminate their operations.
The factory of Shenzhen Kidd Technology Co., Ltd. has already stopped production, and the warehouse has packed the last batch of goods. "China Economic Weekly" reporter Deng Yaman |
"The company's operating conditions in the past four years are not very good. Business process adjustment, layoffs and improvement of assessment indicators have also been carried out before. " A former employee of Shenzhen Kidtech told the reporter of China Economic Weekly that in recent years, Kidtech has also paid more attention to the order information of China sales market. However, due to the high price of raw materials and fierce competition in the same industry, the profit of order information obtained by high-tech enterprises is too low, and even there is a situation that "the more order information, the more losses", and finally they have no choice but to stop production.
The reporter saw from Tianyancha APP that Shenzhen Kidd Hi-Tech has been in legal and regulatory disputes related to the termination of our work contract since 20 19. After the suspension of production was announced, it was also sued by client companies such as Shenzhen Huayiyuan Lithium Energy.
This electronic equipment company was established in 2003 and is very famous in the field of mobile chargers. For many times, we have produced and processed rechargeable batteries, casings and lithium battery protection plates for many famous notebook computer manufacturers around the world.
Similar to Kidd's Hi-Tech today, Dongguan Lian switching power supply enterprise, a mobile charger manufacturer founded on 20 16, announced the decision to "complete its operation and dissolve the enterprise" on the same day.
Dongguan Lian switching power supply enterprise said in the publicity that the period after the Spring Festival rush repair was "the most difficult moment since the company opened", because of the sharp increase in raw material costs, some integrated ic was seriously out of stock, and the key raw materials were changed from monthly settlement to cash purchase. In the propaganda, it is bluntly said that "there is no way to go, and wages will not be paid if it is postponed again", and key points such as "preparing to sell factory machinery and equipment" are also mentioned.
"Since last year, we have successively acquired dozens of machines and equipment from electronic device factories and hardware factories in Dongguan, which are more valuable." Mr. Wang, who is mainly engaged in the acquisition of bankrupt factories in Dongguan, told the reporter of China Economic Weekly that there are a large number of small and medium-sized electronic device factories in Dongguan, but many of them are made with low added value. Now that the rising price of raw materials has pushed up the cost, such companies can't afford external risks.
Mr. Wang bought the machinery, equipment, raw materials and other commodities of these bankrupt factories, and obtained the difference according to the sale.
Lying flat is also an escape.
Among the seven large, medium and small hardware factories contacted and interviewed by China Economic Weekly, four factories chose to stop production under the pressure of rising raw material prices, but the enterprises under their group have not closed their accounts and are still renewing their insurance, including the above-mentioned Shenzhen Kidtech and Dongguan Lian switching power supplies.
"If there is an opportunity to temporarily stop production, such as receiving order information at hand and falling raw material prices, I will still choose to be a factory." A boss who used to run a hardware factory in Fuyong Street, Bao 'an District told reporters that it is not easy for him to put the key manufacturing industrial base in Shenzhen next time, and the labor cost is too high, and he should also try to minimize tinkering with low value-added human resource-intensive companies.
The boss described the "abnormal" situation of upstream and downstream raw materials he had experienced since the Spring Festival: the reasonable price was only kept for a long time, the order information was invalidated for no reason, different orders were not at the same price, and the actual operations such as snapping up raw materials at a price limit were staged in turn. "This series of practical operations makes our middle and lower reaches of demanders very tired." He found that it is better to stop production and "lie flat" than to create risks. "This is also an escape, at least much better than the result of bankruptcy reorganization."
When the reporter of China Economic Weekly visited Fuyong Street in Baoan District, Shenzhen, he found that many traditional industrial zones, including Fuyuan Industrial Zone, had been relocated, transformed and upgraded as a whole. This means that in the future, the space of low value-added human resource-intensive factories in Shenzhen may become smaller and smaller.
Fuyuan Industrial Zone, Baoan District, Shenzhen, integrates enterprises, staff quarters and industrial workshops. "China Economic Weekly" reporter Deng Yaman
"At this stage, the operator threshold of Shenzhen Small and Medium Hardware Factory is relatively low, and most junior high school diplomas can be obtained. It's also easy to get started at work. The key is to increase income by continuing to work overtime. Even so, the income is very limited. It is difficult to live a long-term daily life in Shenzhen just by doing such work. " The former employee of Kidd Hi-Tech said above.
According to the reporter of China Economic Weekly, although the "rising tide" of raw material prices has caused the "shutdown tide" of some large, medium and small factories in Guangdong Province, it has also given some leading enterprises opportunities for transformation and development, and it has long been a consensus to accelerate the transformation and development to the high-efficiency end of the whole industrial chain.
It is still unknown when this round of "price surge" will respond to objective and all normal conditions. However, on May 19, the the State Council General Office Standing Committee clearly put forward "Do a good job in stabilizing the spot price of bulk commodities", and commodity futures, including dark adjustment, chemicals and agricultural products, gradually showed signs of group decline.