IP rights - part 1
China is infamous for its neglect on IP infringements. Companies hesitate to move operations to China, afraid of valuable technology leaking out to competitors. However, China is a de facto master copy cat.
It is not only music and movies that is being pirated but also books. Passing by a few expat hangouts, you are bound to meet a guy selling books from a trolley. He, for it has always been a guy, usually carries 1-200 titles, 2/3 Chinese and 1/3 english. The Chinese titles are the always the most popular books at the moment, fiction as well as non-fiction. In the english section, you will also find the Twilight series next to the Harvard Business Review series and the latest on doing business in China. The selection, although wide, is not particularly comprehensive and you do have to go through the entire mess before finding what you were looking for.
At about 10-20 RMB (1-2 Euro) per book, you'll have a hard time figuring out how anyone could turn a living out of it. With complex distribution networks working in several tiers, any single actor is not going to make more than 1 or 2 RMB from each sale. Everything is wrapped in plastic covers which can be opened if you want to check the contents before deciding whether to make a purchase. This market is completely unimaginable considering the low profits and the trouble the sellers have to go through, constantly looking over their shoulders in fear of police checks. It is probably caused by availability of idle people who are either retired, otherwise unemployed or have some extra free time. Many of the prospective buyers would probably tolerate a price point higher still. The sheer number of sellers is driving the price to the absolute bottom.
Another question is of course, to whom is our vendor selling all the english books to? Not many that I know read business books and to an even lesser extent the "nerdy" HBR studies. Did all the Chinese suddenly all decide to pursue a MBA or are the foreign expats to cheap to pay for the legal versions, available in major bookstores, out of their expat packages? ....
Your ears in all matters Chinese.
/Y
It is not only music and movies that is being pirated but also books. Passing by a few expat hangouts, you are bound to meet a guy selling books from a trolley. He, for it has always been a guy, usually carries 1-200 titles, 2/3 Chinese and 1/3 english. The Chinese titles are the always the most popular books at the moment, fiction as well as non-fiction. In the english section, you will also find the Twilight series next to the Harvard Business Review series and the latest on doing business in China. The selection, although wide, is not particularly comprehensive and you do have to go through the entire mess before finding what you were looking for.
At about 10-20 RMB (1-2 Euro) per book, you'll have a hard time figuring out how anyone could turn a living out of it. With complex distribution networks working in several tiers, any single actor is not going to make more than 1 or 2 RMB from each sale. Everything is wrapped in plastic covers which can be opened if you want to check the contents before deciding whether to make a purchase. This market is completely unimaginable considering the low profits and the trouble the sellers have to go through, constantly looking over their shoulders in fear of police checks. It is probably caused by availability of idle people who are either retired, otherwise unemployed or have some extra free time. Many of the prospective buyers would probably tolerate a price point higher still. The sheer number of sellers is driving the price to the absolute bottom.
Another question is of course, to whom is our vendor selling all the english books to? Not many that I know read business books and to an even lesser extent the "nerdy" HBR studies. Did all the Chinese suddenly all decide to pursue a MBA or are the foreign expats to cheap to pay for the legal versions, available in major bookstores, out of their expat packages? ....
Your ears in all matters Chinese.
/Y
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