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From: EBN Magazine December 17, 2001 Electronics assembly firms in China are not worried about foreign-owned companiesBY CLAIRE SERANT As large, foreign electronic assembly firms in China set up shop, one small electronics company is not concerned about the newcomer's size or economic clout when it comes to China supplier selection. That's because Janifast Ltd. Has found itself a successful niche, specializing in making telecom products with microwave and RF filters, cavity filters, satellite receivers/decoders, and wireless terminals. The company counts Microphase Corp., Norwalk, Conn., and France's Alcatel S.A. among its clients. "Anything wireless or broadband requires RF capabilities," said Ken K.C. Chau, general manger and director of Janifast, which is based in the city of Nanhai in China's Guangdong province. Janifast's RF skills helped it generate sales of $15 million last year. The five-year old China company expects lower sales – about $10 million to $12 million – this year due to the softer economic environment. Janifast is one of several electronics assembly firms in China that are carving out niche services to woo foreign major and midtier OEMs into their plants. "We want to support OEMs that are looking to expand their services in the Far East," Chau said. "Our pricing is on par with the larger contract electronics assembly firms in China because we're experts at what we do." Some OEMs are willing to pay a premium for smaller EMS providers' expertise, according to Robert G. Freid, president of Contract Manufacturing Consultants Inc., Bellevue, Wash. A small electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company could have expertise in RF testing and test equipment, also there's a lot of hand soldering work involved rather than just automated assembly," Freid said. "If a company like Alcatel is interested in China supplier selection with a company of Janifast's size, it's not just for their low labor rate but for their specialized electronics manufacturing
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