Chinese Public Holidays – Expect the Usual USB Memory Stick Mayhem

If the challenges thrown up last week by the fire at the Hynix factory were not enough we’re about to enter even more choppy waters with the start of the Chinese Holiday Season.

For the uninitiated it won’t come as any surprise that 99% of all USB memory sticks in the world are manufactured in China. So when “China” goes on holiday and stops production it has a huge knock on effect on the price and availability of promotional USB memory sticks.

The problem is exacerbated with promotional USB memory sticks because these are typically manufactured to order and flown in from the China within a few days of their production. Outside of the holiday period this works well with lead times from order to delivery being an impressive 7-10 days. But, during the holidays a back-log of orders builds up, prices rocket on the back of limited supply and even when the factories return from their holiday it can take weeks to get production (and prices) back to normal.

This year (2013) the Mid-Autumn Festival takes place on the 19^th September so the factories will only close for one day. The big holiday is the Chinese National Day holiday and this will run from 1^st Oct to 6^th Oct. Some factories and courier firms will operate as usual during the few days between these two holidays but many won’t. Some businesses are predicted to close on the 18^th September and won’t open again until the 10^th October!

Whilst it seems extreme you have to appreciate that many employees combine these two national holidays to travel thousands of miles to be with their families in the provinces. These can involve journeys of several thousand miles often endured on clogged roads and overcrowded trains.

So, if you need some promotional USB Memory sticks any time during the next 4-5 weeks you are strongly advised to get your order in early. This way you should be able to get delivery before the factories close and before prices start to climb even higher.

If you simply can’t commit to an order now and find yourself trying to source USB sticks in the middle of the holidays then your best bet is to find a UK based supplier that holds blank stock and can print (or engrave) the USB sticks in-house.

At USB2U we always hold tens of thousands of USB sticks in stock across a range of 20 different models so typically we’ll have something that will meet your needs. We also print, engrave and data-load in house and we can turn orders around in as little as 24hrs! If you do find yourself caught up in these holiday delays don’t panic. Give us a call we’ll talk you through the options.