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Posts Tagged ‘chinese new year’

Promotional USB Flash Drives Will Be In Short Supply During Chinese New Year

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Chinese New Year is coming at us like a steam train and pretty soon it’s going to be too late to avoid the mayhem it causes to the promotional USB flash drive market.

We say it every year and every year we end up with disappointed customers who wanted a specific USB flash drive and in a particular pantone matched colour. In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, the holiday break is going to be even longer than normal with lots of factories closing from the 6th January to the 4th February – during this period nothing gets produced and nothing gets shipped. Nada, zip, nothing!!

Even when the factories return to work it take a week or so before things start to get back to “normal” but there are always the inevitable backlogs to deal with so typical leads times of 7-10 days can be stretched to several weeks.

Promotional USB Flash Drives

Promotional USB Flash Drives

If you know you have an event, show, seminar, press launch or any other activity for which you need printed or promotional USB flash drives during January to mid-February then you need to be placing your orders now! Don’t put it off because Christmas is looming or you think you’ll be able to “sort it out” in the New Year because you might find you can’t.

Having been through the trauma of Chinese New Year factory shut-downs for the last 9 years we now do all we can to ensure continuity of supply to our customers even it the supply is limited to a small number of flash drive models and colours. But, with a limited supply in the market and lots of customers chasing the stock the tendency is for the prices to shoot up (partly because UK print costs are higher and partly because of usual supply/demand economics) – so, whilst you may find some stock your model choices, colour choices and memory size choices are likely to be very limited and you’ll end up paying a premium for your failure to plan ahead.

Without wishing to sound like a broken record we strongly urge anyone who is likely to want printed USB sticks to plan ahead now and get any order(s) in early. You don’t have to pay for them when you order them, you’ll get exactly what you want and you’ll save yourself money – pretty compelling arguments to get any internal (early) approvals you might need.

Understandably this is not always possible but at least armed with an understanding of the issues/challenges you can hopefully find a way to work with the situation.

If you are too late then don’t forget that USB2U hold thousands of USB sticks in stock and can deliver them (printed) in as little as 24hrs – you may have to compromise a little on model and colour but at least you’ll have something!

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Promotional USB Flash Drives Will Be In Short Supply During Chinese New Year

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Chinese New Year – If You Need USB Flash Drive Plan Ahead

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

It’s seems rather bizarre to be worrying about Chinese New Year in November particularly because Chinese New Year doesn’t even happen on the 1st January but towards the end of January and that’s some 7 weeks away.

But, if you are looking to buy promotional or branded products in the near future (including branded USB memory sticks) then you need to understand that these are typically manufactured to order in China and flown into the UK within a matter of days. Despite the distances involved the usual lead-time from order to delivery is usually as little as 7-10 days but this assume the factories are working – during Chinese New Year not only do the factories close but pretty much everything closes!

Chinese New Year is the most important of all of the festivals in China and it typically lasts for around 15 days but, in 2012 the Chinese will celebrate the Year of the Dragon which is arguably the most important of 12 animals that mark the coming of each new year.

2011 year has been the Year of the Rabbit – an animal (and year) that is typified by calm and reflection. By comparison the Year of the Dragon is will be marked by excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration and intensity.

Chinese New Year 2012

Chinese New Year 2012

During the Chinese New Year holiday many factory workers travel hundreds and in some cases thousands of miles to be reunited with their families in the provinces. The resulting “factory shutdown” will last for around 3 weeks in 2012 and is usually preceded by panic buying, which in turn forces the factories to stop taking orders early so they can be fulfilled before the holidays start. The expected closure dates in 2012 are from 6th January to 4th February!!

So, if you need or think you might need promotional or printed USB memory sticks early in 2012 then ideally you need to place your order in December. Leave it until January and you’ll find the prices start to rocket up and lead times stretch from days to weeks.

Some of the more established suppliers will hold stock locally so that they can continue to supply during the factory closures but don’t expect the same wide choice of models of memory sizes. You’ll also have to brace yourself for higher prices simply because labour and print costs in the UK are higher than in China coupled with the fact that you’ll be fighting over the limited supply of sticks that are available.

The best advice is to plan ahead now and get your order(s) in early. Understandably this is not always possible but at least armed with an understanding of the issues/challenges you can hopefully find a way to work with the situation.

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Chinese New Year – If You Need USB Flash Drive Plan Ahead

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Promotional USB Flash Drives – Normal Service Resumes

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Phew! We all know it’s coming but irrespective of how much forward planning goes into managing the extended closure of the flash drive factories in China every year the Chinese New Year holiday throws up its own challenges and leaves many customers frustrated and disappointed.

Chinese New Year is a national holiday and technically whilst it only lasts around 10 days lots of people take an extended break to give them time to travel home to see their families – bearing in mind “home” can be several thousands of miles away the extended break is perhaps no surprise.

During the Chinese New Year holiday pretty much everything comes to a standstill; the factories that produce flash memory modules, the factories that produce the flash controller chips, the factories that assemble the finished flash drives and lots of the freight haulage companies close. It’s a bit like letting a steam train that’s been clattering along at 80mph come to a stop and then extinguishing the boiler fires.

Restarting the train takes time, you need to re-light the fires, build up the steam pressure again and then gradually start to gain momentum.

USB Steam TrainA week after the return from the Chinese New Year holidays we’re now full steam ahead again and we’re turning around customer orders for promotional USB flash drives within 10-days of order – sometimes quicker!

We always carry lots of stock in the UK that we can print and deliver within 48hrs if you’re in a hurry but you will inevitably be limited in terms of design, colour and memory size and you’ll also pay a premium for the UK print charges. If you have the time you’re always better off letting us manufacture and print your USB flash drives at one of our factories in China, this way you get exactly what you want and it’ll be cheaper!

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Promotional USB Flash Drives – Normal Service Resumes

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Chinese New Year Looms Large – Expect USB Flash Drive Shortages In The UK

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

Given that Chinese New Year happens every year you’d think by now that people would anticipate the shortages in the market that this prolonged holiday creates. To be fair many companies buying USB flash drives for shows, conferences and other marketing events for the first time might not appreciate that around the Chinese New Year Holiday typical leads times for branded USB flash drives can increase from around 10 days to 4-6 weeks!

The reason for the delay is simply because China takes its New Year celebrations very seriously with most employees travelling thousands of miles to be with their families for the duration of the holiday. The collective celebrations mean that pretty much everything stops for around 2 weeks. During this period very little manufacturing takes place and even things that are manufactured typically cannot be moved because the haulage and courier systems close for the holidays as well!

The Chinese New Year holidays have a direct impact on the availability of promotional and branded USB flash drives in the UK because that’s where they are all manufactured. Amazing as it might seem the “normal” lead times of around 10 days are for the production of the drives in China and the international freight of the drives to the UK. When the factories close backlogs build up and these coupled transport backlogs mean that it takes a week or so for lead times to get back to anything like normal.

In 2011 the holiday officially starts on the 3rd February but in practice many factories and businesses will close on the 26th January and won’t re-open until the 14th February. So, if you need to order promotional flash drives for delivery in later January or February then you need to get your orders placed by the 19th January at the latest. If you order later than this then there’s no guarantee they will arrive in time or you might have to find a supplier that carries blank (unprinted) stock in the UK and go with whatever options they have.

Very few companies carry blank stock of flash drives in the UK and when they do the stock tends to be limited to a couple of standard models and memory sizes and your choice of colour will be limited.

USB2U, having been supplying branded USB flash drives since 2002 and are well versed in the challenges of supply during Chinese New Year. If do need USB flash drives printed with your logo on from a UK supplier during Chinese New Year (or any other time for that matter) then give the team at USB2U a call.

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Chinese New Year Looms Large – Expect USB Flash Drive Shortages In The UK

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Buying Branded USB Flash Drives – Beware Chinese New Year Delays

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

The biggest and most important holiday in China is the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) and in 2011 it will be the Year of the Rabbit. The festival to celebrate the New Year begins on the first day of the first lunar month and ends with a Lantern Festival 15 days later.

In 2011, The Year of the Rabbit the New Year festivities will officially start on the 3rd February but for many the holidays will start before this date to allow them time to travel home to be with their families.

The factories that manufacture USB flash drives will close on 26th January and re-open on the 14th February. During this time nothing gets manufactured. It’s not just the USB factories that close, pretty much the whole country closes for business including the freight networks and carriers (UPS, TNT, DHL, etc.) that move the shipments of the flash drives out of the country.

Even when the factories return to work there is usually a delay of around 2-3 days before production gets back to normal but even then there is normally a backlog of orders to deal with. As a consequence the lead-time for branded USB flash drives can increase during the period around Chinese New Year from 10 days to 28 days!

Chinese New Year - Flash Drives

Chinese New Year - Flash Drives

The last day for orders for USB drives that are to be produced and printed at the factories in China is 18th January. Order placed after this date are unlikely to be delivered until late February!

Our advice is to plan ahead and get your order(s) in early to avoid disappointment.

Some UK suppliers of flash drives do hold blank (unprinted) stock of the more popular models and memory sizes in the UK. These can then be printed or finished with a dome sticker and turned around in a few days. But if past years are anything to go by this stock goes quickly and prices are increased to reflect demand and to reflect the higher costs of printing and handling in the UK.

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Buying Branded USB Flash Drives – Beware Chinese New Year Delays

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Buying Branded USB Memory Sticks During Chinese New Year

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Chinese New Year is almost upon us and realistically if you haven’t ordered your branded USB memory sticks by now then you are not going to get them from the factories in China for around 4 weeks!

Unbranded Flash Drives

The challenge this year as China starts to celebrate the Year of the Tiger, is that the holiday period is over 2 weeks and the start and the end is staggered to allow for the mass movement of people around China as the staff in the factories and offices return to their families. So, the reality is that the Chinese New Year break will last for nearer 3 weeks and during this period not only do the factories that manufacture branded memory sticks close but pretty much the whole infrastructure closes. So even if things are manufactured its very difficult to get them moved and shipped.

Unbranded Flash Drives

Consequently any new orders placed today for printed USB flash drives could take up to 4 weeks to be fulfilled. But, don’t despair, at USB2U we’ve been through this cycle for the last 7 years so we knew what was coming and we’ve pre-shipped into the UK thousands of blank (un-printed) USB memory sticks that we can print locally for our customers.

Branded Memory sticks that are printed in the UK will always be a little more expensive simply because of the local (UK) printing costs but when you buy them from USB2U you won’t pay any more for the memory sticks themselves. Not only that but we can turn around printed memory sticks using our UK stock in 48 hrs! If you’re struggling with artwork or design ideas don’t worry because our in-house design team can help you with this as well.

If you have been let down by your supplier or you’ve got a “rush” job and simply have to have some branded memory sticks during the next few weeks then give us a call at USB2U. We’d be delighted to hear from you and we’re pretty sure we’ll be able to help.

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Buying Branded USB Memory Sticks During Chinese New Year

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Chinese New Year – Plan Ahead for Branded USB Flash Drives

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Chinese New Year is fast approaching and this year the factories that produce the branded USB flash drives will be closed from around the 7th February to the 21st February. During this period not only do the factories that manufacture the memory sticks close but much of the infrastructure including the local and national freight companies (TNT, DHL, UPS etc) all pretty much stop and nothing moves.

Chinese New Year

The consequence of this is that for 2 weeks nothing much gets manufactured and what little does get manufactured can get stuck in China waiting for the freight and courier companies to return to work. There also tends to be a knock on effect on lead times when factories return to work and start dealing with the backlog of orders. Usual lead times of 7-10 days can get stretched to 3-4 weeks. Coupled with this the increased demand after the Chinese New Year holiday has historically pushed up prices in the short term.

Some UK companies will hold blank stock of the most popular branded memory sticks in anticipation of this seasonal challenge but bear in mind that UK prices for both stock and in particular the overprinting (post manufacture) are much more expensive. So, if you have an event or activity coming in February for which you require branded or promotional USB memory sticks then plan ahead and get your order in early. This way not only are you assured of getting your memory sticks in time but you’ll most likely get them at a better price.

Chinese New Year USB

According to the Chinese Zodiac calendar 2010 is the year of the Tiger an animal synonymous with bravery and courage combined with power and grace. The Chinese New Year Holiday (also known as the Spring Festival) is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and it’s a time when the focus turns away from work towards the family.

At USB2U we will, as always, carry some UK stock for our customers but there is always a high demand for this stock during the Chinese New Year so we strongly recommend that you plan ahead and place your order well in advance. This way we can supply exactly what you need without any compromise on colour or style of memory stick and we will deliver them at a better price.

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