Weihai, Shandong is currently the largest paddleboarding production base in China, and it is also the place where paddleboarding sports groups were formed earlier. In 2010, several inflatable boat manufacturing factories in Weihai began to process paddleboards for foreign brands, but at that time, the workers who worked according to the pictures did not know this new product, and they once called it a water ski.
At first, nobody paid much attention to this product, and our main business was still inflatable boats and boats. Later, we realized that there may be a huge market worth billions, even billions, behind this board. Lin Peng, founder of Weihai Creative Yacht Co., Ltd., told reporters that they began to shift their focus to paddleboards in 2013. At that time, we sent 100 business letters to our foreign trade clients and received 20 replies. Compared to the 1% reply rate of the inflatable boat project, the feedback from the paddleboard market shocked Lin Peng. Realizing that the paddleboard industry had great potential, but there were currently no professional manufacturers in China, Lin Peng made a decisive decision and shifted his focus to paddleboard production.
The paddleboard industry cluster is rapidly forming
Creative Yacht has completed the transformation from inflatable boat production to inflatable paddle board production in nearly a year, which not only helped it seize the paddle board market smoothly, but also played a leading demonstration role in the local area – a large number of existing inflatable boat factories in Weihai have started to switch to producing paddle boards. With the rapid development of the international paddleboard market, a new batch of paddleboard production enterprises have emerged in the industrial park. Before 2020, there were about 60 factories in Weihai that produced inflatable boats. In the past two years, these factories have started to focus on paddleboards as their main business projects. Emerging paddleboard factories have also increased at an astonishing rate. By the end of 2021, there were more than 200 factories in Weihai that can produce paddleboards. Our production capacity accounts for half of the national paddleboard production enterprises, and our global market share has exceeded 40%, “said Li Wenming, Secretary General of Weihai Yacht Industry Association.
Although there have been adjustments within the cluster this year due to fluctuations in overseas orders and inventory pressure, with about 30 small factories suspending their paddleboard business, most practitioners are full of confidence in the future development of the industry. “The sudden popularity of the domestic market has given everyone more hope, and the constantly emerging paddleboard competitions will also expand the sports population for project development,” said Li Wenming. Currently, many export-oriented OEM factories in the industrial cluster are adjusting their market focus, hoping to make a difference in expanding the domestic market. “Everyone has a brand dream, and this year’s paddleboard craze in China is an opportunity for enterprises to build their own brands and enhance their awareness
Seize the opportunity to expand the domestic market
Lin Peng also believes that this year is the best time for the paddleboard industry to expand its domestic market and establish its brand. Although Lin Peng has been building his own brand trans-e, the main business of Creative Yacht in the past few years has still been OEM processing for foreign brands, with OEM export products accounting for 95% of operating revenue. In Lin Peng’s opinion, promoting and popularizing niche projects in the market is not easy. In addition to the company’s own persistent investment, it also needs to seize opportunities.
In the process of accelerating the progress of the paddleboard manufacturing industry, some shortcomings have also been exposed, such as homogenization and low price competition within the industrial cluster. This is also an important reason why Lin Peng insists on building his own brand. In his opinion, building a brand is a way to avoid homogenization, enhance product premium ability, and help the industry establish a correct sense of competition.
Looking ahead, Lin Peng estimates that the domestic paddleboard manufacturing industry may reach a scale of 10 billion yuan within 10 years. “From the current development speed, I think this is a conservative number. I hope everyone can work together to make this’ small goal ‘a reality as soon as possible
Leave a Reply