Sunglasses

China's sunglasses manufacturers continue to rely on their traditional strengths: OEM work, high output and low prices.

But as competition heats up, more makers are adding a fourth dimension to attract buyers — the capability to develop unique designs. As a result, R&D expenditure is rising quickly.

This 113-page China Sourcing Report highlights these and many more recent trends, with a comprehensive industry overview giving details of new products, price strategies and more.

It also provides you with in-depth, impartial profiles of key China sunglasses suppliers that you can use to pre-qualify manufacturers on your next sourcing trip.

What you'll get

Deep profiles of 16 leading producers, based on personal factory visits and extensive interviews with senior managers by Global Sources analysts

Short profile tables of 57 additional suppliers containing key information such as production capabilities, output ratios, export capacities and major OEM customers

A convenient ranking of all 73 suppliers based on measures such as output capacities, export volumes and sales, and sizes of R&D and QC teams

An easy-to-navigate Product Gallery profiling 165 top export models from China

This report covers: fashion sunglasses, sports sunglasses and children's sunglasses

How you'll benefit

Identify companies that are focusing R&D efforts on new frame shapes, special lens coatings, and new materials and functions

Discover which manufacturers are expanding production capacities either by purchasing advanced equipment or building new plants

Find out what R&D teams in China are doing to make sports models more lightweight and ergonomic, while also improving visibility

Understand better the children's sunglasses sector, including the trend to release designs with wire-rim and rimless frames, long popular on adult models

Executive summary

China's sunglasses export industry continues to be focused on the low-end market, although more midrange and even high-end models are being produced as a trend to improve design capability gradually takes hold. China suppliers offer fashion, sports and children's sunglasses, with exports for 2004 estimated to reach US$370 million.

Fashion designs are the biggest line, taking up 52 percent of export output by suppliers in this report. Sports designs account for 34 percent and children's models 14 percent. These output shares will likely stay close to current levels for at least the next two years, as most companies see fashion models as the sector with the best growth potential, followed by sports sunglasses.

Nearly all China sunglasses suppliers make both fashion and sports models. Children's models are produced by the majority of suppliers, but usually as a sideline. Some companies do not make children's models at all, while there are others that specialize in the line.

The following are some of the key trends we see in China's sunglasses export industry:

Prices are expected to increase as makers deal with rising material and operating costs.

Supplier interest in the EU market has risen substantially among makers that are improving products under efforts to reap higher margins.

More upscale components such as titanium frames and polarized lenses are being used on new releases, even as low-end models continue to dominate exports.

UV400 protection is standard on all exports from quality-certified suppliers, although fake UV lenses do exist in China's industry and cause price undercutting that puts pressure on suppliers of low-end sunglasses using genuine lenses.

Soaring oil costs in recent months have pushed up sunglasses makers' expenditures for plastic frame and lens materials. As a result, many makers plan to inflate product prices in the year ahead.

The vast majority of China sunglasses makers do not manufacture their own lenses, finding it more cost-effective to source this key component from optical companies. However, most makers are capable of handling lens processing in-house, with the emphasis on applying special coatings.

Suppliers are producing models with special features such as curved, translucent and patterned frames and mirror, rainbow, polarized and power-magnification lenses. The most expensive models from China have titanium frames and polarized lenses.

As competition in China's sunglasses industry has intensified, the copying of designs has grown fiercer. The result is urgency among suppliers to release unique and innovative designs with greater frequency.

While the average number of new releases per year among companies interviewed for this report is 300, the large makers are capable of launching up to 1,000 new designs annually.

Industry overview

China sunglasses suppliers continue to rely on their traditional strengths: OEM work, high output and low price. But as competition among export suppliers in China heats up, more makers are adding a fourth dimension to attract buyers — the capability to develop unique designs.

With exports reaching an estimated US$370 million in 2004, China produces sunglasses in fashion, sports and children's models. While low-end and midrange models still dominate output, the number of high-end designs being offered is increasing, even as quality and innovation in all price ranges improve.

More China suppliers are realizing that offering the world's lowest prices is no longer enough to ensure survival. As a result, R&D expenditure is rising as the country's 300 or so exporters compete to launch designs with special features. Of the 73 suppliers featured in this report, 71 percent plan to boost R&D spending in 2005.

Even in Wenzhou, China's main hub of low-end production, more suppliers over the past couple of years have enriched their lines by investing in development of value-added models.

China sunglasses makers see frames, not lenses, as the main selling point of their products. To gain an edge over the competition, makers are enhancing R&D work on models with unique-looking frames, including wraparound, oversized, translucent and patterned versions.

Fashion sunglasses are the country's biggest line, accounting for about 50 percent of export output. Sports sunglasses make up a third and children's models account for the rest. Models with both plastic and metal frames are offered. Most sunglasses are unisex designs, although some designs specifically for men or women are manufactured.

OEM orders are the core business of the industry. China suppliers produce sunglasses for such wellknown companies as Wal-Mart, Guess, Disney, Polaroid and Marks & Spencer. Most makers currently do not offer in-house labels. But as more makers enhance their design capability, we see the number of them with in-house brands increasing.

We also see continued solid growth for the industry as a whole. A 12 percent expansion in China's sunglasses exports is projected for 2005, and our survey findings support this. Some 85 percent of companies interviewed in this report anticipate higher sales in the coming year. Growth will be fueled largely by increased demand in the European Union.

In reaction to higher material and operating costs, many suppliers plan to inflate product prices in 2005. Soaring international petroleum prices are having an impact on the cost of plastic frame and lens materials used by China sunglasses makers. Other operational challenges are eating into makers' profit margins, too, creating a situation conducive to price increases.

Suppliers in many of China's coastal cities are contending with a shortage of skilled workers. During the past two decades, people from rural northern and interior provinces flocked to factory jobs in booming metropolitan areas of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. But those workers are now opting to return home, where economic growth is offering them opportunity for convenient local employment. In response to the labor shortage, sunglasses makers now have no choice but to attract workers with higher wages.

Samples of supplier profile

Chengyi Optical (Xiamen) Co. Ltd
Chengyi exported US$17.6 million worth of sunglasses in 2003, representing 4 percent growth from the previous year.

Eighty percent of the company's exports are ODM orders, the rest being OEM deals. Its clients include famous brands as Guess, Polaroid, Next, Alpina, Fossil and Puma. Main export markets are the United States and the European Union each with 40 percent share. The company also exports to Asia and other regions.

The company emphasizes its design capability and fast turnaround. Because its facilities are highly automated, it can produce a sample in one day, far less than the industry average of one week. In fact, Chengyi produces 40 to 50 new designs each month.

The company has obtained an ISO- 9001-2000 certification from SGS. Its products also meet the FDA standards of the US.

Products
Chengyi manufactures reading glasses and optical frames, as well as sunglasses, stressing that it is capable of effective R&D and design work in all three areas.

Most sunglasses are midrange and high-end models, with FOB prices averaging US$20 per dozen. But the company also accepts high-volume orders of low-end products. In fact, Chengyi has handled a premium order from Burger King that required delivery of 11 million pairs of sunglasses in three months.

Besides plastic and metal sunglasses, Chengyi has started producing a new line of sunglasses that are made of acetate. Production is still small but the supplier is hopeful that demand for these models will grow.

Mostly acrylic, PC and polarized lenses are offered. Chengyi purchases low-end and midrange lenses from Taiwan-invested suppliers in Xiamen. High-end lenses and certain midrange versions are sourced from Japan and the United States.

The company purchases more than half of its frame materials from overseas suppliers. While most of the materials for plastic frames are sourced locally, stainless steel is sourced from Taiwan and Germany, and nickel silver comes from Japan and South Korea. Monel is purchased in Germany, high nickel alloy and titanium come from Japan, and aluminum alloy is sourced in Switzerland, South Korea and Taiwan.

Manufacturing
Chengyi operates a 12,000sqm factory at its headquarters in Xiamen, Fujian province, and employs a total of 1,700 workers. At present, the company produces 1.4 million pairs of sunglasses a month, about 100,000 million pairs fewer than its maximum monthly capa

Sample of product gallery

Fashion sunglasses AB Initio Model: SM2300 Minimum order: 1,200 pairs Packaging type: Carton Delivery time: 30 days Indicated price: US$0.64 Description: PC lenses; copper frame

And more... To see the full Executive Summary order now .

Global Sources Industry-specific China Sourcing Reports

All this column of information contained in China Sourcing Reports is the result of original, independent and impartial research conducted by Global Sources analysts.

If you'd like to order the China Sourcing Reports, please go to Global Sources website - http://www.globalsources.com, or click here. It is simply and convenient.