Overview Of Hong Kong Watch Industry

• Overview of Hong Kong watch industry

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Hong Kong is the world's leading exporter of watches and clocks. The largest export project is a battery-powered watch, accounting for 42% of total exports in the first half of 2018. There are a wide variety of watches exported from Hong Kong, from pointers to electronic watches, metal watches to plastic watches, fashion watches to classic watches, practical watches to jewelry watches, as well as sports watches and other watch categories, too many to mention. In addition, Hong Kong exports a variety of watch components, such as the combination of watch cores, watch cases, clock surfaces, clasps, straps and case parts. In the first half of 2018, the main sources of imports included Switzerland (40% of total imports), Mainland China (29%) and Japan (9%).

The Hong Kong watch industry is backed by a number of auxiliary and support industries. Local watch assemblers can find a wide range of high quality cases, surfaces, straps, hands, button batteries, crowns, electronic components and other accessories. However, watch cores and other core components such as quartz, crystal and integrated circuits are highly dependent on imports.

At present, most of the Hong Kong watch companies are engaged in original manufacturing (OEM) and original design (ODM) businesses. Since the order quantity of each model is generally small, it is difficult to automate production and bring economies of scale. Many of Hong Kong's complete watchmaking activities are still labor-intensive.

• Overview of Hong Kong watch industry

Most producers have moved labor-intensive processes to the Mainland to reduce costs, but some still retain Hong Kong bases to produce high-value products. With the increase in production costs in the Mainland, product upgrades have become a top priority. At the same time, as buyers increasingly focus on product quality, more and more watch manufacturers have obtained ISO 9000 certification to strengthen their quality management systems.

In order to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association has set up a "watch design copyright storage center" to allow members to store goods and provide third-party certification services for product copyright. The Hong Kong Watch and Clock Technology Centre, jointly funded by the Hong Kong Government's Innovation and Technology Fund and jointly managed by the Hong Kong Productivity Council and the Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association, will act as a central organisation to transfer technology to local manufacturers. Provide independent testing services to ensure product quality, especially for testing services not available on the market. The Hong Kong Industrial Professional Accreditation Council held the first "Learning Enterprise Award" in 2015 to encourage and promote corporate learning and to recognize companies with outstanding achievements. The "Learning Enterprise Award" is awarded every two years and the next will be held in September 2019.

To help the watch industry seize the opportunity of market and technology development, the Hong Kong Productivity Council recently conducted a "Study on the Sustainable Development Strategy of the Watch Industry in Hong Kong". It is proposed that Hong Kong should be positioned as a "Geneva" in Asia to explore the mid- to high-end market. The report proposes four strategies, namely quality improvement, branding, product innovation and talent development. It also proposes six measures, including the establishment of a local central testing laboratory with reference to the Swiss certification body and the launch of the “Design Recognition Scheme” for medium and high prices. To promote the "Made in Hong Kong" brand; to promote the "Industrial 4.0" customized product concept to the industry; to form the "Hong Kong Smart Wearable Products Alliance" cross-industry collaboration platform; to set up the "Hong Kong Watch Technology R&D Centre" to support diversified product development And the establishment of the "Hong Kong Watch School" to systematically train industry professionals to enhance the competitiveness of the industry.

• Overview of Hong Kong watch industry