Present situation, development and future of WH professional audio

---

People who make many domestic professional audio products look down on those who make civil audio products. "They have no technical content". Now, the once booming civil audio industry has indeed paid and is continuing to pay a heavy price for its "lack of technical content". After a brief prosperity in the 1990s, the civil audio market has entered a sustained downturn in recent years, with the collapse of the second and third tier manufacturers in the industry and the transformation, and the first-line brands are also struggling to support.

A few screwdrivers, a pile of thread materials, and a few wooden boards, it can be said that the low technical content and low entry threshold have not only created a number of civil audio enterprises, large and small, but also laid the fate of their decline today. The rise of high-tech digital entertainment, the intensification of competition in the industry, and especially the beginning of paying high patent fees according to the rules of the game in the international market have all become unbearable burdens for the civil audio industry.

With people's continuous pursuit of the quality of entertainment life, the ways to get the sense of entertainment are more diverse, karaoke is booming, the box office revenue of movies continues to rise, and the downloading of online music and the flooding of MP3 and MP4 are fatal blows to civil audio.

Compared with the so-called "no technical content" civil audio is going into a downturn, on the contrary, the current professional audio seems to be in a good situation, and the overall industry profit margin is still at a level satisfactory to industry personnel. Some brand civil audio enterprises that can't do it anymore are also trying their best to transform into professional audio. However, will the development of professional audio also follow in the footsteps of the development of civil audio? When "building an innovative country" is increasingly becoming a social consensus, what position and role should enterprises, as the main body of technological innovation, be placed in this historical tide?

At present, the development situation of professional audio industry is still good, so this paper intends to explore the difficult steps of professional audio industry in recent years, hoping to promote the joint efforts of government and enterprises and make suggestions for the long-term and healthy development of professional audio industry.

The development of professional acoustics in China has gone through three stages.

From 1980 to 1995 was the first stage. At this stage, the professional audio industry has neither the concept of brand nor the construction of channels. Industry talents are mainly sales talents for trade, and products are mainly imported agents. At that time, the domestic professional audio market was still dominated by the seller's market. No matter what imported products were, they could be quickly digested in the market, and there was basically no competition in the market.

In this day and age, the most representative one is Yifa Market in Panyu, Guangdong Province, which was the largest professional audio distribution center in China at that time. Now, many professional audio professionals recall the Yifa Market at that time, with a turnover of more than 200,000 per stall every day. In several surrounding hotels, they have been receiving high-ranking people from all over the country for years. What is particularly interesting is that at that time, due to the underdeveloped banking business, a large number of transactions were settled by cash.

From 1995 to 2003, the development of professional audio entered the second stage. During this period, there has been considerable market competition, and some significant changes have taken place in the competitive environment. First of all, after market competition, especially after the state adjusted its industrial policy, these enterprises and individuals engaged in professional audio began to focus on smuggling and strengthened the supervision of the import of goods. After experiencing the double pressure of cracking down on smuggled goods and tax evasion of imported goods, some of them naturally died out, some of them switched to other industries, and a small number of them used their own advantages to grow into large-scale enterprises in the field of professional audio. At the same time, with a large number of international professional audio brands entering the Chinese market, domestic brands created by some far-sighted enterprises have mushroomed. Although many aspects such as quality and appearance are inferior to those of imported brands, domestic brands also occupy a certain market share due to price advantages and other conditions. However, due to the low profit-driven and technical threshold, a considerable number of employees have been separated from the original enterprises and become independent audio enterprises (Note: this kind of enterprises is characterized by no brand, no technology, no factory, only a certain network of relationships, which is a typical guerrilla enterprise). Because of their appearance, the industry competition has reached a new stage.

At this stage, foreign brands still dominate, and JBL, EAW and EV are the most dazzling ones, while domestic brands, despite their repeated attacks, still do not perform well. At this stage, a large number of domestic brands such as Ruifeng, Yinwang, Cafu, Mitsubishi and Hongzhi have appeared. Compared with foreign brands, they are in terms of market share, brand gold content and reputation, appearance and craft level. Although some domestic manufacturers bought and imported well-known brands for imitation, they did exactly the same thing, but it was very obvious when they heard it.

Since 2002, it has been the third stage. In recent years, the competitive atmosphere of professional audio industry has intensified, and the customary interpersonal network in the industry is gradually losing its advantage. On the contrary, the requirements for brand and technology have been continuously improved, especially in some major project tenders, and some companies that have performed very well in the industry before have repeatedly lost. The future development trend of the whole industry is also beginning to become clear. Many enterprises in the industry gradually realize that the future road of enterprise development must be the era of brand and technology. Only with the development and accumulation of brand and the continuous innovation and accumulation of technology can we create higher value for products.

From the professional audio exhibitions in recent years, it can be seen that all enterprises abroad and at home are constantly increasing their brand investment, and increasing their publicity and promotion efforts in professional media. Through a series of exhibitions and market applications, domestic products have been improved, mainly in the following aspects:

Influenced by the global economy, well-known foreign products gradually recognized "Made in China" and began to choose some domestic large-scale and powerful factories to OEM them. In the process of OEM, these factories not only gained the meager profit of OEM, but also acquired some international brand technologies, especially the strict requirements on process level and product control, which played a key role in promoting the domestic overflight.

After decades of development, some domestic manufacturers have gradually completed the original accumulation of enterprises, and have relatively abundant funds. As a result of the extended development of the industry, a large number of domestic manufacturers have the original capital, and at the same time, they are supported by commercial and financial funds. At the same time, some enterprises have begun to introduce world-class production lines and employ first-class experts and technicians at home and abroad. Especially in the management of enterprises, the situation has changed from family business to shareholding system, which makes enterprises become standardized gradually.

In addition, the requirements for technology have reached a new height. Products without technology can't create brands, and the buyer's market based on the technical level of procurement has also been highly improved. Therefore, increasing the investment in technology and R&D is the foundation for participating in the survival of the fittest in the professional audio field in the future. Untechnological OEM brands and hand workshop products will gradually be cleared out by technical products.

At the same time, with the expansion of the buyer's market and rational consumption, the industry characteristics of professional audio also determine that its service will become more and more important. In the field of professional audio, service will become an important means to enhance the gold content and value of the brand. Whoever plays this service card well will have a better chance to become an industry champion.

A huge market development opportunity that is now or never.

As a matter of fact, the development of domestic professional audio industry has entered the third stage, which is also the period when the country's macro-economy is improving and its GDP is growing strongly. The report "China's Economic Outlook 2006" released by the Asian Development Bank says that China's GDP growth is expected to reach 9.5% this year, and the economic operation shows a good period of "high growth and low inflation".

With the increase of local finance, residents' income, public entertainment, theatrical performances, square construction, halls and buildings, conference information release, etc., people's cultural consumption is constantly enriched and improved, and the development of related professional audio industry has benefited a lot. Under the guidance of the mainstream thought of building a harmonious society and a conservation-oriented society, the government, enterprises, education and other industries have stepped up the pace of informatization construction, and the investment in fixed assets of video broadcasting systems in industries (enterprises) that can bring convenient communication and save costs is an important part. With the increase of residents' income, the level of consumption is also constantly improving. The vast number of consumers spend more and more on public entertainment and theatrical performances, which brings huge business opportunities to the development of professional stage lighting and audio industry from the demand level.

Supergirls like Chris Lee and Jane Zhang have become popular, making the whole country, the north and south of the Yangtze River "sing whenever they want", and chain KTV stores like "Cashier" and "Melody" have opened one after another. Radio and TV stations all over the country are also willing to engage in similar performances and activities one after another. The prosperity and development of the entertainment industry undoubtedly provides a fertile soil for the development of professional audio industry.

In many cities in China, there are huge business opportunities behind the slogans such as "developing the city by sports" and "establishing the city by culture". Take Guangdong Province as an example. In recent years, Shenzhen Grand Theatre, Zhongshan Grand Theatre, Dongguan Grand Theatre and Shunde Grand Theatre have been built. This year, in order to welcome the 10th National Games of Guangdong Province, Foshan has also built a series of sports venues such as Century Lotus Gymnasium. In addition, according to the author's understanding, there are seven or eight large projects that have been established and are being established in Guangdong Province. For example, Huizhou City, an important industrial town in Guangdong Province, invested in the construction of Huizhou Stadium (with 40,000 seats), Jinshan Lake Gymnasium (with 3,000 seats) and Jinshan Lake Swimming and Diving Hall (with 2,000 seats) at one time in order to welcome the 13th Provincial Games. In addition, it invested in the construction of Huizhou Grand Theatre and Youth Activity Center one after another in order to build a landmark area and guide the city. In Hubei Province, in order to welcome the 8th National Art Festival, more than 40 lighting and sound renovation projects of existing venues have been planned and carried out at one time, with a total investment of nearly 3 billion yuan. Looking at the national market from the demand of professional audio in Guangdong and Hubei provinces, this kind of opportunity is unprecedented.

The most striking and destined to become a powerful driver of the development of professional audio industry are the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The procurement of peripheral equipment has also started from last year and is expected to reach a climax this year and next.

Although all walks of life are keeping a close eye on the huge business opportunities, these three major events attract worldwide attention, especially for domestic professional audio companies that are building brands, and their significance surpasses the general business opportunities, and become a great opportunity for the future industry to enter a benign development. Industry insiders also agree that in the next five years, the professional audio manufacturing industry will continue to maintain a high-speed development.

While domestic professional audio is facing great historical opportunities for the development of the industry, it also faces various practical constraints. It is these elbow restraints that seriously restrict the development of professional audio. Mainly in the following aspects:

The absence of the national administrative organization and the incompatibility of the construction of policies and regulations.

The market share of China's professional audio industry is about 15-18 billion RMB per year. As such a huge market, up to now, although relevant departments have formulated some relevant engineering construction assessment standards, they have not promulgated the corresponding qualification requirements for engineering enterprises. For professional audio engineering requiring high-tech construction, at present, engineering enterprises are all qualified for mechanical and electrical installation and weak current, and professional audio qualifications of most enterprises are those issued by associations themselves. Due to the mix of good and evil people in the industry, the lack of authoritative appeal of the association and the "hidden rules" of customers in the industry, the existing policies and regulations are more of a mere formality in the actual market operation, and have not played a role in regulating the development of the industry and promoting the survival of the fittest.

At present, in the research and development, production, sales and installation of domestic professional audio, the Ministry of Information Industry, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Culture, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the General Administration of Sports and other ministries and commissions are mainly involved. None of these departments are the direct leaders and regulators of this industry, but they are related. When asked about manufacturers in other industries, when they encounter obstacles and difficulties in the industry, they can definitely go directly to the relevant departments. Although there are many "mother-in-law" in professional audio companies, none of them can really recognize this "daughter-in-law".

It is precisely because of such a major problem that the domestic professional audio field is mixed, speculative and short-sighted psychology is serious, and unfair market competition is prevalent.

Product selection of major projects restricts the development of localization.

At present, major domestic projects abound, and the slogan of "first-class in the world, leading in China" is put forward in the construction period. Because of this kind of construction psychology and requirements, many people mistakenly believe that to achieve this goal, only by investing heavily and choosing internationally renowned brands can it be achieved. As a result of this idea of worshipping foreign things and fawning on foreigners, many major and landmark projects in China in recent years have all chosen foreign brands, and some of them have clearly specified which foreign brands in the bidding documents. Domestic professional audio brands don't want to compete, and they often don't even have the opportunity to participate in bidding fairly.

All over the world are recognizing "Made in China". When a large number of foreign enterprises move their factories to China and entrust a large number of products to domestic factories, the products of domestic brands in the professional audio field are still being treated unfairly. Many people in the industry know that a large part of foreign professional audio products are exported to foreign countries after being processed by domestic professional audio manufacturers, and then returned to China after being labeled with product brands. However, this "export to domestic sales" has caused the price of products to soar, resulting in the loss of a large number of state-owned assets and the waste of engineering funds.

At present, the state calls on products from all walks of life to independently innovate and build China's "world-renowned brands". Although China's Bidding Law stipulates that "bidding activities should follow the principles of openness, fairness, impartiality and honesty" and the Government Procurement Law clearly stipulates that "government procurement should purchase domestic goods, projects and services", there are more and more cases of China's "world-renowned brands" suffering from "white eyes" in the Chinese market. When the author participated in a large-scale government bidding project and communicated with an official of Party A, he asked why the domestic audio brand could not be selected for this project. The official's answer made the author unforgettable for life: "We chose the imported foreign famous brand, and we are not responsible for any problems. International famous products will have problems, so what can we do? It's different to choose domestic products. If something goes wrong, none of us can take responsibility. "

Due to these unfairness, domestic professional audio companies have been deeply confused ... The state calls for independent innovation, and the enterprises in the field of professional audio are basically private enterprises. They don't want the state's capital investment, but they increase their investment in research and development, and the state doesn't need to produce independent innovative products. Isn't this confusing?

The lack of talents restricts the improvement of management and the development of technology.

In other industries in China, professionals with doctors, masters and "returnees" managers are flooding today. In the field of professional audio, it is quite difficult to find such talents. Due to the special characteristics of professional audio industry, the process of training professionals is very long. According to incomplete statistics, there are about 15 million managers in professional audio industry, and only 3% of them have bachelor degree or above. Many people think that even less than 3%, and no more than 50 people have full-time doctoral degree. In such a fast-growing industry, the demand for talents is completely out of touch with reality. Due to the shortage of talents, the lack of R&D investment based on localization, and the lack of professionals with solid basic knowledge, it is difficult for domestic manufacturers to make breakthroughs in enterprise management and technology development. It is particularly worth mentioning that in recent years, the technical direction of the international professional audio field has begun to face a critical period from analog to digital technology, while few domestic professional audio professionals can skillfully read English materials and communicate with foreign experts. The lack of talents with global dialogue and communication skills is a "hard injury" in the field of domestic professional audio.

"Management Pain" of Domestic Professional Audio

Due to the low starting point and development process of domestic professional audio enterprises, it can be said that professional audio enterprises have not made sufficient preparations for market competition, and they have ushered in the development trend of professional audio in the world and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in China. Nowadays, the domestic professional audio enterprises are still stuck in the workshop-style enterprise mode of family business, which is far from the modern enterprise mode.

In fact, at present, many professional audio companies in China do not have a complete corporate structure, corporate culture and strategic planning; Lack of systematic brand management awareness and brand planning; There is no systematic talent introduction and training, performance appraisal and equity reform incentives; Personal colorization of corporate culture and lack of professional training of employees; Lack of management team with global vision and ability.

"Technical Pain" in Domestic Professional Audio Field

In the field of domestic professional audio, the lack of technology has become a real pain. The high-gold technology and high-tech materials used by foreign professional audio products have become an invisible "threshold" for domestic professional audio enterprises. Because of the technical obstacles, the domestic professional audio market is divided into two levels, and the high-grade and mid-grade products markets are monopolized by foreign products. Domestic enterprises can only target the low-grade products markets, and they can only take the price as the market pertinence and production purpose, and all they want is to exchange the lowest possible investment for high returns as the business purpose.

Shortboard of technical defects of domestic professional audio

The technical defects of domestic professional audio are mainly manifested in that the technology of domestic professional audio originated from the plagiarism of foreign products. The appearance can be exactly the same, and the technology can be better and better, but the core technology of products is always in the hands of others. Although domestic professional audio companies are aware of the technical gap, it is difficult to seek technical breakthroughs due to the lack of capital investment and talents.

Although some domestic brands also spend part of their annual sales as R&D investment and talent introduction, it is still insignificant compared with international brands that spend 8%-12% of their sales as R&D investment.

The technology accumulation of domestic professional audio has only a history of more than ten years. In this process, what is most lacking is high-quality technical leaders and a complete technical team. Many heads of domestic professional audio companies mistakenly believe that hiring one or two experts and technicians is the strength of R&D, but they forget that R&D is done by the team and based on hardware investment.

Response of domestic brands in professional audio field

With the rapid development of the domestic professional audio market, the technological innovation and expansion of the global professional audio market, the internationally renowned professional audio, after decades of accumulation and development, is relying on the three swords of high-end technology, strong financial strength and accumulated talent advantages to compete in the world market. However, how can domestic professional audio enterprises, which have only a history of more than ten years, face this kind of opportunities and challenges, and find opportunities for growth and space for development? The author believes that no enterprise or individual can make domestic professional audio stand out in such an international competition, and it needs the concerted efforts of the national industry authorities, industry associations, enterprises and employees to make "world-class domestic professional audio enterprises and brands".

In the global competitive environment, as national industry authorities, industry associations, enterprises and employees, they should take the initiative to play their respective roles and shoulder the historical mission according to the opportunities of the times.