Chinese electronic components: opinion on the Russian market

Recently electronic components from China seemed to have only one advantage – a low price, like many other products produced in the country. Their quality and technical level were a priori questionable. Nowadays China has reached great heights in many fields of science and technology, Chinese companies occupy leading positions in the telecommunication market, in the market of subscriber devices, in information technology and crystal production is rapidly developing in the country.
Our editors together with ExpoElectronica exhibition decided to ask the opinion of representatives of companies that include distributors of electronic components, a Russian manufacturer of electronic devices and a Chinese company which presents products on the Russian market on what Chinese electronic components are nowadays, how much they are in demand on the Russian market, what problems in cooperating with Chinese manufacturers are no longer relevant and which have not yet been fully resolved.

Georgy Kon, Lead Product Manager of the “RF/ Microwave components” line of the Macro Group of companies.

It is obvious at present the Russian electronic industry should not be dependent on any Western manufacturers due to the changeable political climate and Russia’s strategic interests. We are talking about components from the USA, Europe and Japan (conditionally assigned to the West). However, it is not possible to completely abandon components and technologies produced abroad at the same time. It will take five, maybe ten or more years of gradual transition to the domestic element base with a simultaneous increase in its competitive advantages.
A compromise option for future changes may be the products of the PRC, manufactured by both commercial companies and government institutions of the CETC structure (ChinaElectronicsTechnologyGroupCorporation), etc. Chinese components have quite high characteristics for many applications, their competitiveness increases, coming close to their analogues from the USA, Europe and Japan.
The companies of the CETC structure have all the technologies necessary for the Russian market, such as 0.15 and 0.1 microns GaN HEMT. The demand for these and other components is growing from year to year which is primarily due to the absence of any export restrictions on deliveries to Russia. The dynamics of development of Chinese products, in particular microwave electronics, is impressive. During the Soviet period we helped to organize manufactures in China up to the construction of separate workshops for the production of semiconductor components (for example, CETC29, in Chengdu). In the 2000s their products began to be sold for export but lagged even behind the Russian characteristics and were much more expensive. In 2020 microwave components produced by NEDItek, Metda and SIWI are already competing with their Western analogues while, unlike many Russian products, are mass-produced in large volumes.
Simultaneously with the price reduction the Chinese managed to increase significantly the percentage of yield of good products that favorably affects the dynamics of reducing the number of claims to product quality. Over the past five years in our company there hasn’t been any single case of critical discrepancy between the declared characteristics and the actual ones for the customer, as well as any questions about their reliability.
A key feature or we can say a problem of Chinese products (primarily produced by government institutions) is the limited amount of technical documentation provided for the product. We can’t say that this applies to all the components but the trend is noticeable. For example if there is no necessary schedule or some data in the documentation the Russian developer has to contact the distributor who will provide all the necessary information in the shortest possible time. But unfortunately the conditional stinginess of the source documentation often causes many companies and developers to refuse the manufacturer’s products.
To be fair it should be noted most of the components are accompanied by enough data to make a decision about their use. However a number of parameters sometimes have to be further specified by the developers and if necessary the required measurements and tests have to be performed by the manufacturer.
For Chinese customers unlike to Russian ones the manufacturer’s website, completeness of documentation and vendor visibility are of secondary importance. The Chinese customer contacts the manufacturer and comes to the factory. In a personal conversation all the questions are cleared up, the customer personally checks the manufacturer. In the middle Kingdom it is a business based on relationships but not on facts objectively provided from various independent sources. This is the fundamental difference between the mentality of the Russian customer and its Chinese counterpart. Our task is to smooth out this barrier as much as possible, establish interaction and win over the customer, and focus the manufacturer’s attention on the project.
The additional services such as the delivery of free samples, debugging boards, etc. are provided by Chinese factories. As a rule there are no problems with the minimum batch of the ordered goods since Chinese manufacturers are mainly aimed at replacing positions that are difficult to supply to China on their market that are primarily expensive and unique. A high value of the minimum number of ordered chips is required for relatively inexpensive mass-produced components that are freely supplied by the USA companies to both China and Russia.
As for the delivery time everything is ambiguous. In connection with the USA sanctions against the leader of the Chinese telecommunications market Huawei their production was forced to urgently seek replacement of the element base among local suppliers. Due to large volumes the delivery time was temporarily extended. But the situation is changing nowadays the delivery time is reduced and many components are supplied in a timely manner.
Our company cooperates with many Chinese manufacturers. In 2019 at ExpoElectronica exhibition in Moscow we had joint stands with Elite (microwave and IR components), PRC, and Oupiin (connectors), Taiwan. Of course there remains a certain mistrust of the Russian customers to Chinese products. Our task is seen in overcoming of wariness – we note the advantages of this product and share our experience of its delivery to the Russian market. For many people the phrase madeinChina is still strongly associated with insufficiently high quality and low price but not with hi-tech and unfortunately not with the responsibility of the Chinese manufacturer and support for the purchased product. But times are changing  and our task as a distributor is to establish a direct and operational cooperation between the customer and the manufacturer in solving possible problems.
We don’t change vendors working with reliable vendors. This highlights our responsible approach to each project. While working with Chinese companies there is a problem of the language barrier, which primarily concerns technical issues that are not disclosed in the documentation. We provide operational support and if necessary arrange a direct conference call connecting the customer with the manufacturer. In some cases you can visit the product supplier.

Svetlana Peskova, head of marketing Department, Platan LLC.

Nowadays Chinese manufacturers of electronic components are widely represented on the Russian market. The distribution line of almost every major supplier of electronic products in Russia includes Chinese brands. The demand for Chinese diodes, resistors, switches is not in doubt especially in those areas of application where the price category with decent quality is more important than long-term stability.
Chinese products in the field of ECB presented on the market have changed a lot in recent years: not passive components are offered increasingly, but microcircuits, transistors and modules of own design. The delivery program of our company includes the brands HTC TaejingKorea, SG Micro, BPS, Ebyte, Espressif, Netsol, etc. The business models of such enterprises are approximately the same: engineering centers are located in South Korea and production facilities are located in China. Many companies have offices in the United States. he interests of such industries are popular lines of microcircuits for power management, LEDs, field-effect transistors of general use. The quality of products is very high  as evidenced by the fact that some global distributors include these brands in their supply lines.
It should be noted the peculiarities of cooperating with Chinese manufacturers, their differences from manufacturers from Europe and the United States.
Firstly the attitude of Russian electronics manufacturers to Chinese products is twofold. Components of a wide range of applications do not cause concerns and the introduction of microcircuits and transistors in domestic developments is difficult. For some manufacturers this is due to long testing and approval cycles; for others – to the reluctance to change anything while for example the original TI is available on the market.
Secondly the lack of complete technical documentation hinders the widespread introduction of Chinese components into domestic developments. On the one hand major manufacturers produce catalogs, provide sheets of technical data (datasheet) and certificates but they are often incomplete and insufficient for domestic developers. On the other hand this is compensated by the availability of samples, the ability to place a trial order or return the product. An additional advantage is the production and delivery time of components usually no more than four to six weeks when delivered directly from the factory.
We consider the difficulties of introducing Chinese companies ‘semiconductor components to the Russian market to be the costs of the”transition period”. In the near future major Chinese manufacturers of chips and transistors will occupy a part of the market owned by such global giants as TI, OnSemi, NXP, and others.

Sergey Gushchin, Leading Sales Specialist, Symmetron Group of Companies

In recent years the topic of distribution of Chinese-made components has been repeatedly raised in our company. Seeing the growing interest from customers and offers from Chinese manufacturers we decided to develop this direction systematically. The greatest attention was paid to those areas from the list of deliveries of our company that were not widely represented by traditional European and American manufacturers.
Today taking into account the dynamics of demand we can talk about a certain shift (on the market and in the minds of developers) in the attitude of customers – manufacturing companies to the products of Chinese suppliers. This is especially evident in the segment of project customers competing in their fields with Chinese manufacturers. As the test results on the customer side have shown the quality of power discrete components is at the level of traditional brands and the characteristics correspond to those stated in the documentation. There are still problems with the technical documentation in terms of its completeness, content and translation that causes certain difficulties. At the same time a very noticeable advantage for customers is significantly shorter delivery times and a difference in cost of 20-30%.
The Symmetron Group of Companies is an official distributor of several Chinese manufacturers of components and modules in such areas as power MOSFETs, memory of various types and wireless communication modules. Technical support, samples, and documentation are provided for project work. The most popular items are available from the warehouse. ExpoElectronica 2020 exhibition in Moscow will showcase the entire range of products from Chinese manufacturers represented by our company. We carefully select and verify partners from China. The companies that are developing cooperation with are large manufacturing companies that have been known on the market for more than 15 years. Many of them are provided with state support in particular through equity participation. All business correspondence, documents and negotiations are conducted by us in English. There are no communication problems except for the time difference. Before we started working we visited companies in China and Chinese regional representatives regularly visit our customers in Russia. The emerging crisis on the components market encourages the development of additional distribution areas and gives new suppliers a chance. Further expansion of cooperation with Chinese manufacturers is a priority for us.

Nikolay Dmitriev, Head of Procurement, NPO StarLine.

NPO StarLine is a leader in the Russian automotive safety market with expertise in automation, robotics, telematics and development of self-driving technologies. The company performs contract orders of any level of complexity in the field of electronics manufacturing, molds, plastic casting, cable assembly and other segments. The priority of NPO StarLine in working with suppliers is stable quality over a long period confirmed by stable technological processes. The company focuses on world-class technologies and imposes the same requirements on all manufacturers whether they are Chinese, Russian or European. NPO StarLine represents a large-scale production so it is important to make sure that the company can not only produce high-quality samples of products but also ensure the stable quality of a large volume of products. This requires a constant audit of enterprises even if it is a well-known brand worldwide.
The main problem of Chinese manufacturers of electronic components is poor technical documentation. While registering it companies from China do not always comply with the norms accepted in the world. This may complicate the selection of the element base. You have to request test results, recommendations for use and other documents that European and American manufacturers provide on the site. Local Chinese manufacturers little known in the world issue documentation only in Chinese and it is quite difficult to translate it into Russian or English. It takes time to refine the technical characteristics.
It is important to monitor the quality of materials and enter into contracts with the manufacturer with strict liability measures. If the company makes a deviation in the technological process it must bear financial responsibility. This applies to all manufacturers not just Chinese ones. We recommend you go to the production site and see what quality control standards have been adopted, what equipment is used and how non-conforming products are handled. And only then make a decision – to work with the manufacturer or not.
There are products that Chinese manufacturers of electronic components have mastered well and are now entering the international market with it. These are passive components, wireless modules, connectors and electromechanics and connectors for electronics. They compete with European and American suppliers for these products. However the Chinese still continue to master complex electronics.
We should note that manufacturers from China are always focused on their customers. There are no problems with sending test samples, debugging kits or making special products. Even if you need to replace the connector or discrete diode they themselves carry out the selection and can make the product to order and the cost of tooling will be included in the price of the product. Manufacturers from other countries often issue a separate invoice for equipment that imposes some restrictions on cooperation. Product samples may not pass tests or a large batch of products will not go into production so the customer is not always ready to pay for tooling. Chinese manufacturers are more customer-oriented and ready to meet the requirements.
From the point of view of the language barrier there are no problems with Chinese companies. Major manufacturers that operate in the global market have a sales Department and technical support in English. Even small niche manufacturers that primarily speak Chinese have a manager who speaks fluent English on their staff. And large Chinese manufacturers that cooperate with Russian companies hire Russian-speaking specialists.
With well-established logistics companies from China comply with the terms of production and delivery of components. In General with proper control and audit Chinese electronic component manufacturers are reliable, good suppliers and deserve a place in the market.

Tiger Lee (TigerLi), Vice President of international marketing at Mornsun.

We have been supplying our products to Russian customers for more than 13 years. The Russian market is very large and has significant potential for many businesses. For us it is one of the key markets. From my point of view the markets of China and Russia have more similarities than differences.
Thus the same industries in these countries can be called promising: automation, alternative energy sources, advanced production. New technologies and new products are equally in demand in these industries. In other words we can say that the needs of our markets are the same. This allows us to deliver our successful and cost-effective solutions and services to the Russian market.
But there are also differences. First of all it is definitely the volume of the market. There is also a difference in which sectors are larger in the two countries. But since we aim to create high-quality and reliable products and in Russia the most popular solutions are for industrial electronics and telecommunications, that is for areas where the main focus is on quality and reliability, the Russian market is very good for us.
Mornsun has been participating in ExpoElectronica exhibition in Moscow for more than 10 years. ExpoElectronica exhibition has been held annually for 23 years and is the largest electronic and radio-electronic industry exhibition in Russia and Eastern Europe. Participation in this event is a very powerful marketing campaign for Mornsun in the Russian market helping to strengthen our brand awareness, show the industry our latest products and solutions, build relationships with new customers and deepen interaction with existing customers. In addition it is an effective way for a Chinese company to get acquainted with Russian industry trends and learn valuable information for us.
This year we will present our newest product line to the Russian market – switching power supplies with a capacity of 35-350 W in the case. This family contains a wide range of products tested for EMC with protection functions and high efficiency making them a great choice for a wide range of applications including industrial process control and industrial automation, machinery and equipment, intellectual security, “smart grid”, Internet of things, mechanical and electrical equipment, electronic devices, “smart buildings” and appliances.
Strengthening Mornsun’s position in the Russian market together with the leaders of the local electronics market is our company’s strategy.
Currently we have three great partners – ECO Power, Compel, and MicroEM, who help us work for the benefit of our clients in Russia.
Mornsun has strong development capabilities, cost-effective products and automation capabilities but we do not fully have the sales expertise in Russia. However our partners are well-known distributors of electronic components in Russia with a full-fledged sales network, a professional marketing team, strong operational engineers and a well-established logistics system. We are sure that close cooperation between us is a good solution that provides mutual complement of our capabilities. This is a combination of high-quality Mornsun products and technical support including customization, specialized development for specific applications, solutions in the field of power distribution systems, with a local Russian professional service platform aimed at more comprehensive customer service in relation to products and technologies.
For the company the quality of its products is a vital aspect. The result of 20 years of hard work Mornsun has made great achievements in the field of development, automation and system management which ensures high quality products.
The company has established comprehensive product standards that cover all stages – from development and production to control and customer service. The design is strictly controlled in accordance with the IPD process (IntegratedProductDevelopment – integrated product development) and strict reliability tests are carried out. To ensure continuous improvement and high reliability of products the company applies a strict supplier evaluation system, input quality control of components and materials, as well as output control. In addition the production automation level of up to 60% has allowed Mornsun to achieve truly outstanding quality stability and product reliability.
From my point of view more and more Chinese manufacturers are increasingly focusing on improving the quality of products. Although this cannot be said for all Chinese manufacturers without exception, China’s electronic components industry as a whole has definitely made a big step forward in recent decades.
Our company produces a variety of high-quality products, including AC/ DC and DCD-DC converters, switching power supplies in the housing, adapters, decoupling amplifiers, isolated gate drivers and led devices, ICS, transformers, and so on. Most of which have UL, CE, CSA, CB and DOE Level VI certificates. In addition we have our own laboratory built in accordance with the ISO 17025 standard and approved by organizations such as UL, CSA, TÜV, DEMKO so we can produce test reports and CE, UL, CB certificates ourselves.
We provide certificates, test reports and technical documentation for all our products in English. Customers can download them on the site or get them by contacting our sales Department.
In addition to more than 5 thousand standard products we offer customized solutions and strive to provide such services to customers around the world including Russia. Every year we work with our clients on a variety of projects in order to meet their specific requirements. Mornsun has always followed a customer-oriented philosophy in its business and has tried to provide all its customers with the best possible service.
Are there any difficulties in working with the Russian market caused by the language barrier? Of course there is a language barrier in any international activity but this is not a problem for us. We have not only local distributors with employees who speak Russian as their native language and also speak English. We also have our own employees who can speak both Russian and English. All of them can freely discuss certain details with customers, solve necessary issues, and transmit information from customers without loss or error. In addition we conduct technical seminars in Russia both online and offline.

The material is prepared by I.V. Kokoreva and J.S. Kowalewski

A source. ELECTRONICS science / technology | business No3 (00194) 2020