Pearl River Piano Company Essay Example for Free

Pearl River Piano Company EssayPearl River Piano assembly (PRPG) was established in 1956 by bringing together six small cushy shops in Guangzhou. The sort out of 100 employees produced only 13 pianos that year. After many attempts, Guangzhou technicians were finally satisfied with the tone color and eccentric of its first manufactured piano, and in a short time it was sold in Hong Kong. It would be 20 years before the grinder was able to prove its potential. As a State -owned enterprise PRPG is responsible to the Guangzhou municipal government. Investments from both Yamaha and Steinway Sons accept played a key role in the expansion of their production. In addition, PRPG has bought the German piano brand Ritmuller and will be expanding in the europiuman market. Guangzhou, located at the mating of the Pearl River delta, is an im appearanceant trading center as well as a busy port and the capital city of the province of Guandong . The city has an area of over 16,000 squa re kilometers and a population of 6.7 million. Guangzhou is too one of the most important centers of foreign commerce in South China.There are a lot of interesting legends concerning its past. One of the beautiful stories which gives the city its name Goat Town says that five gods go on five goats brought the first grain to the city. In 1959 PRPG consisted of a shed on the side of the highway to repair pianos. Later a shelter was built to process the wood. At that time the pianos were carried in a cart with men walking barefoot to the port. During the tumultuous of Mao Zedongs Cultural Revolution in the sixties and 1970s, few Chinese dared to buy a piano, which symbolized the Wests decadent and bourgeois society. Learning the piano was frowned upon at that time. The factory didnt stop making pianos. However, they were lucky if they sold more than one hundred pianos a year. In the stave Chinas one-child policy has created a culture where parents invest heavily in their childrens education. Parents like to spend money to cleanse their childrens education and culture and this has paid off for PRPG.Nearly 80%of their pianos are sold in China. Pianos have caught on in China. PRPGs domestic shipments climbed even throughout Asias financial crisis. During the1960s companies such as Yamaha took advantage of broken in labor costs to enter the global and domestic market. They were quietly followed my South Korea. For years the musical prick business was dominated by U.S. and European companies. But this has been changing now for decades. In 1992 Tong Zhi Cheng took control of the company. He had worked for only one company during his adult life, the state-owned PRPG. When Tong took over pianos were fairly common in households in Europe and the U.S. for nearly twain centuries, but in China they have been a luxury. In 1995 PRPG and Yamaha Pianos of Japan forge a $10 million joint venture. They get along up a company called Yamaha-Pearl River. This company was s et up to make certain Eterna models that are exported to Europe and the USA.Unlike Chinas typically backward state-owned companies, PRPG is savvy around brands and looks for new products to sell. Tong bought a mature German brand Ritmller in 1999. In addition he has smitten a deal with Steinway Sons to produce their Essex line of pianos. Today, PRPG consists of a factory spanning 2 million square feetthe worlds biggest piano plantcranks out 250 pianos every day. White-smocked workers steer computer-driven kilns that bake oak planks en masse. Individual piano keys are hand-checked for precision and balance. Five pairs of ears listen to each pianos tuning, speeding another instrument out the doorand into Americas living rooms. Just two years after Pearl River set up a U.S. sales arm, its high- quality, low-priced pianos have snared 10% of the market, and the company vows to capture a 25% share by 2005. It already has won the hearts and minds of close to U.S. consumers.