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>I'm not saying that I don't buy anything made in China, almost everything is made in China, but everyone should avoid Chinese crapware. If you spend just a sm

>I'm not saying that I don't buy anything made in China, almost everything is made in China, but everyone should avoid Chinese crapware. If you spend just a small bit of effort, you can look for items not made in China. They are usually higher quality. Japanese companies (and increasingly large American ones) are moving / have moved their production elsewhere due to an increasingly hostile business environment in China. Sony makes their phones in Thailand, speakers/headsets in Malaysia. Panasonic produces a lot of consumer electronics in Malaysia. Samsung makes some of their phones in Vietnam, and the high-end ones in Korea. Their fridges are also made in Thailand/Korea. Google makes their Nest line of products in Thailand/Vietnam now. Some Netgear Arlo products are made in Indonesia, (some?) Netgear switches are made in Thailand. On the enterprise side, Cisco has moved production of a lot of lines to Thailand for example. This trend is only going to accelerate after the SARS-COV-2 pandemic subsides.

ianai 5y ago
Is there a reliable way to research non-Chinese manufactured products? I know to just look for the “made in” somewhere on the page or product, but it’s not as simple as including a search tag in a field, either.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  I've noticed lately that in the Q&A section of the majority of the items I look at on Amazon, someone asks where the item was made. That's helpful. I've always wanted to know where my stuff comes from, from my food to my gadgets. So I encourage other people do ask the same questions on Amazon. It helps other people.
- throwawayciv651 5y ago
  This might be something to check out: ImportYeti https://www.importyeti.com/ https://www.importyeti.com/
- rmellow 5y ago
  Sadly Amazon doesn't respect the NOT operator anymore: https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/20069/is-there-a-way-to-use-the-not-operator-on-amazon https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/20069/is-there-a...
- mkbkn 5y ago
  This browser addon claims to show the origin country of any item: https://www.wecultivate.us/ https://www.wecultivate.us/ I haven't tried it much though (I'm not in the USA).
yorwba 5y ago
If you buy a Sony product made in Thailand, what protects you from encountering crap like in the article is not that it's made in Thailand instead of China, but that Sony has a reputation to protect and the expertise to do proper quality control. If you buy stuff directly from a Thai company that you never heard of before just because their product was the cheapest, you'll have to do your own testing and will likely discover some sharp edges.
- happytiger 5y ago
  A lot of Chinese company owners have moved production to Vietnam, Thailand. Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, etc., specifically because they are aware of this changing preference in the West. Chinese owned business is not China-based business, but most Chinese-owned businesses are subject to CCP influences. As you pointed out: manufacturing standards vary factory to factory and region to region, and quality issues abound in newer manufacturing regions that lack the crazy competitive environment China has (a thousand pots et al). Counterfeit PPE really revealed a lot about boys these factories operate. Very hard to verify ownership reliably.
  - not2b 5y ago
    There's another, more capitalist reason: wages in most of those countries are lower than wages in China. It's not because of "changing preference".
    - happytiger 5y ago
      That’s definitely part of it. But for context I’m basing part of that opinion on conversations I had with factory owners I’ve done business with in some of those countries running import/export. Many Chinese manufacturers see the conflict between the US and China as bad for business and have optioned third party countries to continue doing business no matter what happens. They’re very smart people.
- oasisbob 5y ago
  > but that Sony has a reputation to protect and the expertise to do proper quality control. They don't, though. Sony, like many other companies, makes products for developing nations which are not sold in more affluent Western countries. ("World" products) Trying to buy replacement Bluetooth earphones in India really opened my eyes on this one. The store I was buying from had a strict NO RETURNS policy, but still bent the rule when the headphones weren't iPhone compatible (scratchy distortion). After opening two more pairs of Sony with the same problem, they decided to stop and just gave my money back. This wasn't a budget model - it's a model which you'll never see in the US or EU. Their products aren't just differentiated by country of manufacture, but by the intended market. Depending on brand name isn't enough.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Why are you being downvoted? Avoiding chinese products is a good thing. Thanks for the tips.
- Dah00n 5y ago
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    China is one of the most polluting nations in the world. I've started to think that avoiding trade with them is a responsibility. Also, the book "Poorly made in China" is extremely interesting.
    - na85 5y ago
      - jacquesm 5y ago
        You should probably read the guidelines. If you know for sure that an account is a sockpuppet of another then feel free to mail hn@ycombinator.com, otherwise such comments are boring.
cronix 5y ago
> Sony makes their phones in Thailand, speakers/headsets in Malaysia. Panasonic produces a lot of consumer electronics in Malaysia. Samsung makes some of their phones in Vietnam, and the high-end ones in Korea. Their fridges are also made in Thailand/Korea. Google makes their Nest line of products in Thailand/Vietnam now. Some Netgear Arlo products are made in Indonesia, (some?) Netgear switches are made in Thailand. Made/Manufactured/Assembled in X country doesn't mean not using Made/Manufactured/Assembled parts from Y country in the process. Take the Cisco router manufactured in Thailand. Out of the thousands of individual components on the circuit boards, not a single IC within it was manufactured in China?
- standard458 5y ago
  "Made in USA" has fairly strict rules. You can sneak some components in but it needs to be negligible and not misleading.
josephcsible 5y ago
> If you spend just a small bit of effort, you can look for items not made in China. They are usually higher quality. I try to do this when I can, and they're definitely higher quality, but for some products, finding a version not made in China is almost impossible, a problem that's exacerbated by stores like Amazon not being required to disclose where their products are made.

ianai 5y ago

Is there a reliable way to research non-Chinese manufactured products? I know to just look for the “made in” somewhere on the page or product, but it’s not as simple as including a search tag in a field, either.

reaperducer 5y ago
I've noticed lately that in the Q&A section of the majority of the items I look at on Amazon, someone asks where the item was made. That's helpful. I've always wanted to know where my stuff comes from, from my food to my gadgets. So I encourage other people do ask the same questions on Amazon. It helps other people.
throwawayciv651 5y ago
This might be something to check out: ImportYeti https://www.importyeti.com/ https://www.importyeti.com/
rmellow 5y ago
Sadly Amazon doesn't respect the NOT operator anymore: https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/20069/is-there-a-way-to-use-the-not-operator-on-amazon https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/20069/is-there-a...
mkbkn 5y ago
This browser addon claims to show the origin country of any item: https://www.wecultivate.us/ https://www.wecultivate.us/ I haven't tried it much though (I'm not in the USA).

yorwba 5y ago

If you buy a Sony product made in Thailand, what protects you from encountering crap like in the article is not that it's made in Thailand instead of China, but that Sony has a reputation to protect and the expertise to do proper quality control. If you buy stuff directly from a Thai company that you never heard of before just because their product was the cheapest, you'll have to do your own testing and will likely discover some sharp edges.

happytiger 5y ago
A lot of Chinese company owners have moved production to Vietnam, Thailand. Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, etc., specifically because they are aware of this changing preference in the West. Chinese owned business is not China-based business, but most Chinese-owned businesses are subject to CCP influences. As you pointed out: manufacturing standards vary factory to factory and region to region, and quality issues abound in newer manufacturing regions that lack the crazy competitive environment China has (a thousand pots et al). Counterfeit PPE really revealed a lot about boys these factories operate. Very hard to verify ownership reliably.
- not2b 5y ago
  There's another, more capitalist reason: wages in most of those countries are lower than wages in China. It's not because of "changing preference".
  - happytiger 5y ago
    That’s definitely part of it. But for context I’m basing part of that opinion on conversations I had with factory owners I’ve done business with in some of those countries running import/export. Many Chinese manufacturers see the conflict between the US and China as bad for business and have optioned third party countries to continue doing business no matter what happens. They’re very smart people.
oasisbob 5y ago
> but that Sony has a reputation to protect and the expertise to do proper quality control. They don't, though. Sony, like many other companies, makes products for developing nations which are not sold in more affluent Western countries. ("World" products) Trying to buy replacement Bluetooth earphones in India really opened my eyes on this one. The store I was buying from had a strict NO RETURNS policy, but still bent the rule when the headphones weren't iPhone compatible (scratchy distortion). After opening two more pairs of Sony with the same problem, they decided to stop and just gave my money back. This wasn't a budget model - it's a model which you'll never see in the US or EU. Their products aren't just differentiated by country of manufacture, but by the intended market. Depending on brand name isn't enough.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Why are you being downvoted? Avoiding chinese products is a good thing. Thanks for the tips.

Dah00n 5y ago
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  China is one of the most polluting nations in the world. I've started to think that avoiding trade with them is a responsibility. Also, the book "Poorly made in China" is extremely interesting.
  - na85 5y ago
    - jacquesm 5y ago
      You should probably read the guidelines. If you know for sure that an account is a sockpuppet of another then feel free to mail hn@ycombinator.com, otherwise such comments are boring.

cronix 5y ago

> Sony makes their phones in Thailand, speakers/headsets in Malaysia. Panasonic produces a lot of consumer electronics in Malaysia. Samsung makes some of their phones in Vietnam, and the high-end ones in Korea. Their fridges are also made in Thailand/Korea. Google makes their Nest line of products in Thailand/Vietnam now. Some Netgear Arlo products are made in Indonesia, (some?) Netgear switches are made in Thailand. Made/Manufactured/Assembled in X country doesn't mean not using Made/Manufactured/Assembled parts from Y country in the process. Take the Cisco router manufactured in Thailand. Out of the thousands of individual components on the circuit boards, not a single IC within it was manufactured in China?

standard458 5y ago
"Made in USA" has fairly strict rules. You can sneak some components in but it needs to be negligible and not misleading.

josephcsible 5y ago

> If you spend just a small bit of effort, you can look for items not made in China. They are usually higher quality. I try to do this when I can, and they're definitely higher quality, but for some products, finding a version not made in China is almost impossible, a problem that's exacerbated by stores like Amazon not being required to disclose where their products are made.