|
China's Growing Appetite for Luxury Brands in Fashion, Cars and Jewelry
OmniaLuo, Inc, Coach Inc., BMW Group, Audi AG and the Swatch Group Ltd Satisfy Demands of Growing Numbers of New High- End Consumers In China
POINT ROBERTS, Wash., Delta B.C., March 26, 2008 - China-AsiaStocks.com, an investor and industry portal China-Asia sector within Investorideas.com, reports on China's growing appetite for luxury goods from fashion, to cars, to jewelry and how both China's domestic and established well-known foreign brands are meeting the increasing demands. With a rising number of millionaires and a growing middle class, China is poised to become the second biggest consumer of luxury goods by 2015.
advertisement
Coach Inc. (News, Market), BMW Group (News, Market), Audi AG, the luxury carmaker owned by Volkswagen (News, Market), the Swatch Group Ltd (News, Market) and OmniaLuo, Inc. (OTCBB: OLOU http://ir.omnialuoinc.com, are just a few of the brands that are succeeding based on understanding China's consumer needs. Hyundai (News, Market) is refurbishing its brand image to a new luxury car to increase market share and appeal to the consumer's desire for high-end brands.
China's luxury consumers have impacted the global fashion industry, increasing imports of garments from Italy. According to Italian Trade Commission, Italy will send 30 companies and 40 brands to this year's China Fashion Week Fair. China's International Clothing and Accessories Fair “CHIC 2008,” (http://www.fibre2fashion.com/chic2008) held in Beijing March 28 - 31, 2008 is attracting some of the best in the industry.
According to www.italtrade.com, “Numbers on Chinese exports and domestic consumption offer further confirmation of the country's dynamic textile industry. Imports of garments increased from $138 million in 2006 to $201 million in 2007, up 25 percent year-on-year. “
OmniaLuo, Inc. (OTCBB: OLOU http://ir.omnialuoinc.com), a domestic China-based company that designs, markets and distributes the luxury women's apparel brand “ OMNIALUO,” will be exhibiting at CHIC 2008, as part of it growth and expansion strategy. The company currently has 187 stores, representing an 89% year-on-year increase from the 99 stores in February 2007.
As a domestic brand designer, Cindy Luo, OmniaLuo Chairwoman and CEO feels she has her finger on the pulse of the new breed of luxury consumers in China, commenting,” We see many luxury brands including Dior (News, Market) and Luis Vutton entering the Chinese marketplace to expand market share, selling to Chinese consumers. Also, several foreign fashion brands have moved their production to China - so China is becoming an integral part of the high end fashion industry in all aspects. Our company understands the consumer, knows the competition and feels we can compete with well- known foreign luxury brands.”
Coach Inc. (News, Market), internationally desired for its luxury handbags and accessories, has ambitious plans for its line in China but understands the need to know the consumer. According to Coach Inc., “First and foremost, we need to understand who our customer there is. Early learnings suggest that we have strong equity in styling, function, quality, and authenticity among the Chinese consumers. Second, we are accelerating our multi-channel distribution, including the opening of Flagship stores to build image and awareness. Third, we are continuing to develop and implement high- impact marketing communications programs. And fourth, we're building a leadership team on the ground in Greater China to drive that growth.”
Coach went on to state, “We expect Greater China, which includes Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China to grow rapidly, achieving 10% of the global market by 2009. Therefore, we are focused on this opportunity, as we believe Greater China has the potential to become a third leg for Coach. Although we're still in the very early stages of our development in Greater China, we have made great progress and estimate our market share today at about 4%. At year end there were a total of 49 Coach locations in the region, including 15 in mainland China, 13 in Hong Kong, 1 recently opened in Macau, and 20 in Taiwan. “
Luxury car manufacturers are also gaining traction in China's new economy. According to a study by BMW Group, “only 3.7 percent of the Chinese population, i.e. around 50 million people, earned enough money to buy a car in 2002. By 2010 this figure should increase to 13 percent.“
BMW Group's Rolls Royce brand is growing in Greater China with 5 showrooms located in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. According to the company, “Rolls-Royce sales in 2006 grew by more than 60 percent, making the region the third largest market in the world behind the USA and the UK.”
Audi AG, the luxury carmaker owned by Volkswagen (News, Market), recently announced sales were up in 2007 - particularly China, where Audi sold 101,996 cars, up 24.8 percent from the 81,708 it sold in 2006.
Astin Martin has also opened a showroom in Shanghai, catering to the new affluent consumers.
Hyundai, a name not associated as a luxury brand is launching a luxury brand for China in 2010, upgrading their current brand image and attempting to improve on sales. Hyundai sold 24,000 vehicles in China in 2007, but feels improving the brand to a luxury brand will increase sales.
Swatch Group Ltd (News, Market) just reported net income for 2007 exceeded CHF1 billion for the first time as part of a continuing global market for luxury goods, particularly in China, with Europe and the United States also performing well. In December 2007, The Swatch Group Ltd. announced it increased its participation in Xinyu Hengdeli Holdings Ltd. from 7.25% to 8.09%. Xinyu Hengdeli Holdings Ltd. is the largest watch retail chain in China and is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Another Hong Kong-listed jeweler Luk Fook Holdings (HKG: 0590) announced plans to open additional stores on the mainland to capitalize on the rising demand for luxury jewelry. Luk Fook Group currently has a total of over 300 retail outlets in Hong Kong, the PRC, Macau, Canada and the United States.
With China's rapidly changing and growing economy, more brand-name luxury consumer goods are made in China and now destined to be purchased by China's consumers. As China builds dominance as both a manufacturer and a consumer of luxury goods, companies that know both sides of the market have a higher chance to succeed and grow market share. In terms of growth opportunities for luxury brands, it has only just begun.
About China- Asia Showcase Company, OmniaLuo, Inc. (OTCBB: OLOU):
OmniaLuo, Inc. (http://ir.omnialuoinc.com), based in China's fashion capital of Shenzhen, is in the business of designing, developing, marketing and distributing fine women's apparel under the brand name OMNIALUO. OMNIALUO's apparel embodies elegance, femininity and sophistication for China's rapidly growing class of urban and affluent female professionals. With its rapid and strategic expansion plan, OMNIALUO plans to increase its retail presence across 32 of 34 provinces in China from its current 187 stores to 264 stores by year-end 2008. Under the leadership of Cindy Luo, the Company's founder and award winning chief designer, OMNIALUO is positioned to become the Chinese brand equivalent of Donna Karan or Liz Claiborne.
Investors can also visit the Company Showcase on Investorideas.com at:
http://www.investorideas.com/CO/olou/
The Company's Media Presentation can be viewed at: http://www.investorideas.com/CO/OLOU/ss/default.asp
About InvestorIdeas.com, China-Asiastocks.com:
InvestorIdeas.com is a leading global investor and industry research resource portal specialized in sector investing covering over thirty industry sectors and global markets including China, India, Middle East and Australia.
InvestorIdeas.com Disclaimer: www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp . Our sites do not make recommendations, but offer information portals. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All Information relating to featured companies is sourced from public documents and/ or the company and is not the opinion of our web sites. Disclosure: OmniaLuo, Inc compensates the site $4000USD per month as a showcase company.
For More Information Contact:
Dawn Van Zant 800-665-0411 Email: dvanzant@investorideas.com
Source: Investorideas.com, China-AsiaStocks.com, OmniaLuo, Inc
Would you like to see your news and articles here? GO>>
|