Video Game Consoles and the Industry

Hello. Welcome to this week’s special edition of my blog. For this week, we will take a break from luxury goods and talk about video game consoles and console-based games (as part of a class assignment =) ).

Introduction

In this 21st century age, I am sure all of you have some idea about video game consoles. Even if you don’t own one, you must have seen them on TV or internet. According to Wikipedia, a game console is simply an interactive entertainment “computer” or electronic device that manipulates the video display signal of a display device (a television, monitor, etc.) to display a game. Different from PCs and PC games where users utilize the keyboard or the mouse, video game consoles use specially designed controllers for their machines to allow users to input information into the machine or interact with the game.

The first generation of consoles made its debut in 1972. Within three decades, the video game industry has reached a worth of $30billion and the video game consoles have evolved into the present 7th generation (Click here for understanding of other generations of consoles). Entertainment software sales reached $20 billion in 2004 and the industry’s total revenue, combining sales of software and hardware, is expected to reach a historic peak of $52.1 billion at the height of the next generation consoles (Fall 2005 - ITP 280 Video Games Production).

Read here for a study done by Nielson Company on “The State of the Console” (4th quarter of 2006 - Study on gamers’ demographics).

The present 7th generation of consoles is characterized by the use of Blu-Ray discs or HD-DVD, networking capabilities and innovative design of using motion sensors as a form of controlling. Here are examples of the 7th generation top selling consoles manufactured by major console makers:

Xbox 360

• Manufacturer: Microsoft
• Released Nov 22, 2005
• Worldwide sales: 9.68m units
• Americas sales: 5.3m units
• Top selling games by sales unit:
o Gears of War
o Halo 3 Legendary Edition



PS3

• Manufactured: Sony Computer Entertainment
• Released Nov 11, 2006
• Worldwide sales: 3.15m units
• Americas sales: 1.37m units
• Top selling games by sales unit:
o Resistance: Fall of Man
o Grand Theft Auto IV




Wii

• Manufactured: Nintendo
• Released Nov 19, 2006
• Worldwide sales: 6.40 units
• Americas sales: 2.54m units
• Top selling games by sales unit:
o Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
o Super Paper Mario
(I totally recommend Raving Rabbits, it’s so fun and funny!)

Source: Wikipedia, VGChartz, EBGames. Sales figures as of Apr 2007.

The present success of the video game consoles and games is attributable to a number of different players in the industry such as the console makers, the game developers and game publishers. The game developers are the ones responsible for designing and writing programs for the games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game platform such as Wii or develop for a variety of systems. The game publishers are the ones responsible for marketing and distributing the games.

Here is the ranking of game publishers in 2006 by Game Developer Magazine. Companies were ranked based on six factors: annual turnover, number of releases, average review score, quality of producers, reliability of milestone payments and the quality of staff pay and perks.

Competitive Dynamics

Many of the companies in the video game industry are playing multiple roles. They can be developers of the game, designers, publishers, and at the same time, console makers. Take Microsoft for example, they are the manufacturer of Xbox 360, but they also have an internal game studio to develop games for their console. They can either develop the console games internally or contract with other external game developers. Companies such as Electronic Arts which also develops games internally, is generally regarded as a game publisher since their major source of income comes from game publishing.

Playing multiple roles is especially important to console makers as it allows them the flexibility to strategize for their consoles and ensure some kind of revenue stream. A good game contributes to the success of a console, just as a good console contributes to the success of a game. Quoted from a friend of mine who is a fan of video games, “a game console is like the body while the game that plays on it is the soul.” The downfall of Atari caused by its disappointing E.T. game produced in 1982 proves this point: it just takes one bad game to bring down the company. On the other hand, a good game can help boost the sales of a console. Final Fantasy 7, a revolutionary RPG game in the industry which brought RPG games to mainstream, help boost sales of Sony PlayStation in 1997, two years after PlayStation was introduced. Halo 2 developed exclusively for Xbox also help saved the sales of Microsoft’s console in 2003, after it reported lower than expected sales.

With companies playing multiple roles, this meant that many of them need to compete at multiple different levels with one another – at the console level (who can produce the best machine that gamers enjoy with a multiple integrated functions), game developing level (developing games that gamers enjoy with innovative features, picture/sound quality) and publishing the games (who is able to market the games most successfully to sustain profits).

Along these lines, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are having a serious fight in the video-game console industry with their newly designed consoles. Each of the consoles has its own different features. The Xbox 360, offers HD-DVD drive, and is the first console with the ability to use wireless controllers out of the box. The Xbox Live service is the trademark of the system, and the console can connect to the service via the Internet through a built-in ethernet port or a wireless accessory. Sony‘s PS3 comes with a hard drive for 20GB or 60GB and plays Blu-Ray video discs and games. Controllers connect to the console through Bluetooth (up to 7) and possess tilt-sensing capabilities. Wii, though with the simplest processor among the three, attracts the crowd with its motion sensing controller.

Unlike the other two systems of the seventh generation, Wii plays a very different strategy. Different from Sony and Micrsoft’s strategy of attracting avid gamers to purchase their consoles, Nintendo is tapping into new markets to increase market share and consumers. With its simple controller, easy to play games that a six year old can play, and low price point of $250 compared to the other two consoles, (which ranges from $300 to $599), Wii is targeting a whole new group of people, young & old, avid or non-avid.

Presently, Nintendo’s Wii sales have surpassed that of PS3. 3 out of 5 top selling games by units sold are for Wii and Nintendo DS. Wii certainly has revolutionized the video game industry. It enables people, old and young, to join the pool of gamers who they now can relate with. Unlike a lot of the other games played on Xbox or PS3, Wii builds on the idea of having multi-players paying simple yet fun games. After all, games are more fun when played with more people. (Thanks to Wii, I can finally enjoy playing games, without having to invest a lot of time trying to understand other complex games).

Business & Revenue Models

Besides playing for pleasure, people have already used PC games and online games in a variety of ways. For example, video games are used in the medical field to help educate autistic children through video modeling. Video games have also been used to simulate emergencies and operations so as to train doctors and enhance their skills. In the business setting, companies have used them as team and knowledge building exercises and also to train their employees. These types of videogame training tools have proved to be effective and have saved companies some money. Here is a Business Week article about “On the job Video Gaming.”

(Side note, me and my group of friends together finished “Raving Rabbits” in two days although the story mode was for a single person. We took turns to conquer each level, which really was good for team building).

With the invention of Wii, it opens up more uses for console based games since the uses that I have mentioned are more for PCs and online games. Fitness clubs have started to make use of Wii to increase their revenue by planning classes around Wii Sports. In fact, studies have shown that you can burn around 125 calories in 15 minutes, and 12.2 hours a week of active gaming on the Wii can lead to a potential 1,830 calories burned. That just gives you more reason to play video games.

Currently, a bulk of the revenue for console makers and game developers comes from the selling of their games. (Hardware makers are losing hundreds of dollars on every console sold). However, it has become increasing difficult for game developers and publishers to sustain profits with rising development costs. This rise in costs is caused by the increasing complexity of the games and their underlying technology. The other important reason is the increasing trend to produce exclusive games for each platform. This means that the average user bases will be lower with longer return on investment.

To resolve this issue, game publishers are seeking other sources of revenue from government sectors and private industries where they are seeking game-based tools for the classroom and workplace. Another major source they are seriously looking into is in-game advertising. In-game advertising offers companies a new way to reach their customers. In May 2006, Microsoft spent a few hundred million dollars to purchase in-game advertising startup company, Massive. In-game advertising offers advertisers a way to market to a highly desired demographic, to hopefully increase revenue.

Future Trends

Looking at the increased capabilities of the 7th generation consoles, it is not difficult to predict where the future of console is going. Digital convergence, as seen with the mobile phones nowadays, is going to be the next big trend for game consoles. Console manufacturers are increasing the functions and capabilities of their machines. Initially, it was the ability to play movies and listen to music, now it has evolved into a computer where network capabilities are incorporated. Consumers will be able to chat, play, and download television programs with just one single machine. And this is not just in America. According to an Xbox spokesperson, Kerry Parkin, Microsoft’s Xbox Live currently connects people from over 25 countries and its community has over 6 million people. Their service will have the potential to reach 200 million worldwide in the near future.

Just this week, Sony has announced that it will have offer a camera for its PS3 that will enable video chats, recording and interaction with games. The PS3 camera will allow new types of games to be played.

With all these increased capabilities, the line between online gaming and console gaming is gradually blurred. What is the difference between online gaming now since what you were able to do with online gaming can be done on the consoles? The new generation of consoles will become the center of the living room, with the capability of being a multimedia entertainment system. Digital convergence is going to create intense competition among console makers, and also other electronics manufacturers. It will increase competition outside the traditional domains, and pull more and more people into this industry and competition.

With all the major consoles having networking and chatting capabilities and Wii’s innovative technology of motion sensing, it is mind-blowing how technology such as gaming will affect our lives. It has drastically changed the way how games would be played on video game consoles in the future. Games and game consoles would need to be even more innovative or posses more capabilities to attract both the avid gamers and non-avid gamers.

High Fashion High Tech

Since most of my friends are talking about IT on their blogs, I shall hop on the boat and write something about IT too. Of course, I won’t forget about my luxury goods industry. This week, I would be looking at how high fashion can be high tech too.

In the past, luxury goods apparels and accessories are just apparels and accessories with a luxury brand name. It’s usually hard to find these luxury products related to technology of some kind… but not anymore. Some of the luxury brand companies seem to be interested in getting associated with technology (vice versa). They are either collaborating with technology firms to come up with new products, or trying to sell accessories related to technology products, or adding some kind of technology into their apparels… (I found some technological enhanced apparels designed by Hugo Boss that uses nano tech - Read).

Versace, the brand well-known for its edgy designs, has started a series of “technological luxury products” under brand name Versus. Through this product line, Versace hopes to become a trend-setting brand that creates a new market niche called the technological luxury. Their core concept being: “to create the next generation accessories that can interpret modern needs.” According to Dante D’Angelo, the company focuses on exploiting the accessories business instead of apparels because “(accessories) is a category that lends itself best to technological development.”

Other than the Versus cell phone, a product co-branded with Samsung, Versace plans to introduce leather accessories, fragrance, costume jewellery and eyewear, all with a technological edge. (I am really curious what technology they can come up with for these products).

In order to develop these technological luxuries, brand companies are joining forces with technology companies in the idea of co-branding. Companies from these two different and unassociated industries collaborate by contributing their core competencies. Luxury brand companies contribute by sharing their expertise on designing the product and packaging while the technology companies are responsible for coming up with the manufacturing of the technology and the product.

Here are some examples of where brands merge with technology:

Dolce & Gabbana pairs with Motorola – Razr V3i

In December 2005, Motorola, together with Italian designer Dolce & Gabbana launched a limited edition gold and black color phone, Razr V3i. Other than the phone, Motorola and D&G also offered a line of D&G phone accessories, including gold leather phone cases, gold Bluetooth headsets, and gold wired stereo headphones with a gold on-wire volume control. The phone was sold not only in major Motorola stores but also at select D&G boutiques.

The phone primarily targets consumers who are looking for “status” and style in a phone.

Versace pairs with Samsung – Samsung E500 Versus

In July 2006, Samsung launched the Samsung E500 Versus phone that was designed by legendary Italian fashion label Gianni Versace. The E500 phone is one of Versus’ pioneer products under the product line. The prime objective of their alliance is to create a product targeting younger generation of consumers who pursue originality in terms of style, innovation and practicality.

Prada pairs with LG – Prada Phone

In February 2007,LG Electronics and Prada, one of the world’s leading brands in the luxury goods industry, launched their co-branded iconic Prada phone. Through ready-to-wear and accessories, the CEO and President of Prada, Mr. Patrizio Bertelli looks forward to a break-through for their brand.

Swarovski pairs with Philips Electronics – Active Crystals
(Sneak preview to be available in June 2007)

In March this year, Swarovski and Philips Electronics also announced a partnership in developing consumer electronics that integrate technology with high fashion. The first range of products including sound systems and storage devices will be launched in summer this year, branded as Active Crystals. Through their collaboration, both companies seek to develop new market opportunities.

It seems like no industries can do without some kind of technology, not even those traditional ones. One by one, luxury brand houses are joining forces with technology companies to create some kind of product to satisfy the new potential market, answering to those who love beauty and at the same time can’t live without technology.

The co-branding strategy has proven rather effective for both the luxury brand companies and the technology companies. Both the technology companies and luxury brand houses have reported increases in their sales because of their new products. Motorola has credited the popularity of its Razr model phones for much of its 60.6 percent earnings gain in the last quarter of 2005. Versace Versus sales are estimated to reach €35 million by end of 2007.

It's definitely a wise idea to incorporate some kind of technology into high fashion products. After all, so many people are interested in technology gadgets. These products will help to attract gadget lovers or techies pay even MORE attention to their brands.
Whether it’s the fashion industry leveraging on technology or technology leveraging on luxury brands, it’s not clear anymore.

Luxury Goods Market in China

I read an article written Jan this year about Cartier being barely able to break even after 15 years in China. The article talks about China having too many luxury stores because many luxury brand houses are flocking to China, and it takes some time for these stores to begin realizing gains (Seattle Times - High-end brands stumbling in China's crowded luxury market). I was surprised when I saw this and doubted the credibility of this report since all the other facts and studies pointed to the opposite. However, it did give me an idea that maybe we have ignored other factors while always placing emphasis on China's huge growing market opportunities.

While researching for my blog, I have found some interesting and detailed information about some issues that luxury brand companies should take note of:

1. Intellectual Property Rights Regulations

As some of you might know, the problem of counterfeit goods in China is severe. According to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the piracy rate in China is one of the highest in the world, with an average of 20% counterfeit goods in consumer products. According to the U.S. government, China's counterfeit goods industry cost overseas companies an estimated $60 billion a year. Of $138 million in counterfeit goods confiscated by the U.S. Customs in 2004, 63 percent came from China.

Some data indicated that although the middle class group in China is more willing to purchase luxury goods now, a larger population of mainland people is spending money on counterfeits. China’s pirated goods markets (eg. XiangYang Market) have attracted thousands of both foreign and local visitors daily.

In an effort to protect their sales in China, Louis Vuitton, Burberry Group and many other luxury companies have urged the Chinese government to crack down on rampant piracy in the country. The Chinese government has also set up stricter regulations to combat this problem, but the main issue lies in the enforcement and penalty of these laws at the local level because jurisdiction is diffused throughout many government agencies and offices.

Unless the Chinese government enforces the laws strictly and effectively, and consumers are being educated about counterfeit products, the knockouts will continue to erode the profits and put a toil on the luxury goods industry.

2. Issues that lead to slow turnover rate

In a study done by KPMG last year, the average time that it takes for the luxury brands to turn profitable is around 5 to 10 years. This may come as a surprise to some of you since we know luxury sales have been growing by double digits. This slow rate of return is thought to be the result of high setup costs, training costs, marketing costs, and tariffs.

Luxury goods companies expanding their stores have experienced high rental costs and also costs associated with training and overcoming communication and cultural differences. Many of the luxury brand companies often vie for top locations to set up their stores, hence driving up rental costs. Companies also often find themselves having to spend huge amount of money to train staffs. Even though there are large pools of cheap labor in China, there is a shortage of local management talent and staffs who have experiences in luxury goods service positions. Companies need to spend relatively large amount of money to train staffs at all levels, especially the management level or find qualified people from elsewhere so as to empower them to become ambassadors of their brands.

High tariffs on luxury brand goods in China has also made luxury goods 20-30% more expensive than in Hong Kong or even European countries. One of the beliefs is that Chinese prefers to shop overseas or in Hong Kong due to the difference in prices and also because the varieties of products in China stores are often limited compared to these places. Over the past few years, there has been a mounting number of Chinese tourists who travel abroad to purchase luxury brand items. This explains the dilution of some of the earnings that luxury companies could earn.

Building brand equity is expensive in China because of the ineffective media and advertising, resulting in many of the luxury brands having to place numerous advertisements or find other ways to promote their products. Luxury brands often find their ads ineffective amidst clutters of ads on Chinese newsstands. Advertising is also difficult in this huge country; marketing in one city may have no impact elsewhere. Thus, luxury companies often have to come up with creative ways to promote their products which can be expensive. Media costs are expensive particularly in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Because of all this high costs, only a handful of top-tier luxury brands, including LVMH and Prada, have reported significant returns in China thus far.

3. Chinese consumers

The current luxury market in China is in its growing stage. With much of the nation still living in relative poverty, many Chinese consumers still have not embrace the idea of luxury. While there is a growing number of rich consumers, most of the people have yet to fully understand and appreciate “luxury lifestyle.” The average Chinese consumes luxury items without much research and view the purchase as a symbol of their high social status and financial success. As opposed to the European people, who tend to search for real value before making their find purchase.
Besides that, many of them still encompass the idea from the earlier days of saving up for the rainy day. China’s aggregate savings ratio is around 50% compared to 30% in Japan, 39% in Hong Kong and less than 14% in America.

While there have been sharp increases in wealth and luxury buying, luxury companies in China should not just focus on expanding and selling their products. These luxury brand companies should find ways to establish and cultivate a luxury culture in the Chinese market, so as to create a sustainable, healthy development of the luxury market in the long run.


As seen from the mentioned points, China’s luxury goods market has yet to mature. Companies wanting to expand their business certainly need to take into considerations different aspects of the market environment and play them into their strategies. It is critical to take note that success in the Chinese market requires far more than opening many retail outlets. A very important strategy that luxury brand companies should have is to build their brand images in the Chinese even before they enter the market. LV, which is the most successful brand in China, is a good example. They spend 5 years doing market research and establishing their image before expanding into China. This is a very important step especially when the Chinese market is starting to learn about luxury brand items.

Fact Site
- China's GDP increased 10.9% from 2005 to 2006
- Total retail sales of consumer goods also increased 13.3%, reaching RMB 3.644 trillion in 2006
- According to report by Ernst & Young, by 2010, quarter-billion consumers can afford luxury products, which is around 17 times the present value
- By 2015, Chinese consumers could be as influential as the Japanese, and will surpass the United States to account for 29% of all global luxury goods purchases

Money Talks – Interesting article about China’s luxury market

Will luxury goods ever become too popular?

Just imagine everybody walking on the street holding an LV bag or Gucci or any other brands. Does it influence what you want or not want to carry?

I was thinking about this when I was writing my previous blog about luxury brand houses offshoring their manufacturing plants to China. It was supposed to be one of my concerns until I came across a very interesting article in Business Week about Coach (Is Coach becoming too popular?) which proves that this is a legitimate concern worth discussing.

Coach’s sales has been rising continuously for 3 consecutive quarters, beating Wall Street analyst’s estimates in the fiscal second quarter. This fact is certainly something for investors to be ecstatic about, but many of the Wall Street investors are worrying that Coach might not be able to sustain its earning growth. Upbeat about these nice mounting figures, the CEO of Coach even boosted the number of stores that Coach will open this year from 30 to 40. (Watch interview with Coach CEO Lew Frankfort on CNBC).

What analysts and investors are worried about is that sales and profits might sore for a moment, but it will come a time when Coach becomes too ubiquitous that it loses its specialness, something which happened to GAP in the 1970s when similar healthy market conditions for expansion was observed. GAP enjoyed a 122% increase in sales between 1998 and 1999, but in just two years, it started to decline because the GAP look was too ubiquitous. Similar cases also happened to Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger when they try to capture more sales by targeting the discount market.

Some people are puzzled about the gravity that pervasively capturing the market can cause, but as I mentioned before, luxury brand industry is different from a lot of consumer products; luxury goods signify the socioeconomic status of people who buy them. Contrary to network goods on the other side of the spectrum, where the value increases with increasing number of people, it follows a different strategy than network goods.

There are certain dangers in pervasively targeting all market segments for luxury brands. Like what Coach is doing, in order to attract the younger group and having increasing sales, Coach has released a line of leather products that are lesser than $100. When luxury companies have such actions, their luxury products are not luxury anymore, removing the positive income elasticity that luxury goods should have.

What is important for luxury goods is their brand image. Tiffany, for instance, marked up its price for some of its jewellery for fear of change in its brand image.

LV also provides a very good example where it is successfully penetrating the huge market in China and all over the world, but at the same time preserving its high-end image. What LV does differently is that it focuses on what they do best – behaving in the way luxury brands should behave. It focuses on serving the top of the pyramid with its main products such as handbags, wallets, leather luggage, marking up prices yearly so as to retain value for their products. (Although this is unappealing from a customer's perspective, it successfully creates the asipiration and desire in buying their products).

It is understandable that many luxury brand companies are flocking to newly arising markets to capture market shares, however, I believe they should strategize and do it with care. Luxury brand companies should not forget their core values and ideas. If not, having huge sales for a moment can come at the cost of their brand image. We’ll just have to observe if Coach will continue to have sustainable profits if it carries on with its present strategy.

"Ubiquity can be the death of a brand, you need to be very careful when you expand." says Robert Passikoff, the CEO of Brand Keys, a New York brand consultancy.

What does offshoring to China entail for the luxury goods industry?

What is the first thing that you would do if you see a piece of clothing or accessory while shopping at a high-end branded store? My first reaction is always to marvel at it for 10 sec and then immediately pick it up, not to try it on though, but to see if I could afford it and also where it is made from.

A few years ago, I would be surprised to see high-end luxury goods being made in Asia. But now, it's a completely different story. For most of the things that I can afford as a student in those stores, majority of them are 'Made in China' or 'Made in Vietnam.' Even those slightly more expensive items are made in Asia.

It's not difficult to understand this phenomenon of companies moving their manufacturing plants to Asian countries, especially China. Companies in almost every industry have moved over to China because of the potential large market and also it's low cost advantage over other countries. The luxury brands currently operating in China are largely of European origin and span across various retail sectors such as fashion apparel and accessories, footwear, perfume and cosmetics, jewellery, automotive, and liquor. Louis Vuitton, Bally,Gucci and Ferragamo were among the first wave of high-end retailers to open outlets in China more than 10 years ago. And now, LV, Prada, Coach, Kenneth Cole, Armani Exchange and many more has manufacturing plants set up in China. Burberry is planning to do so too, albeit many opposing voices (I'm sure some of you might have heard about this, even Prince Charles had something to say - Read).

Being someone who is conscious about where those high-end goods are produced, I have some general concerns:

By using low-cost Chinese labor, luxury goods companies could lose the whiff of glamour that surrounds their brands and justifies their relatively high prices.

What sets luxury brands apart is that they command a premium over their counterparts because they have a unique set of characteristics including premium quality, craftsmanship, recognisability, exclusivity and reputation. Luxury brands not only convey a standard of excellence, but act as social signals to indicate access to the rare, exclusive and desirable.

In the past, Europe's luxury brands have all created the image that their products are superior because of their European craftsmanship and materials. Relocation to low cost manufacturing countries such as China could be risky since these luxury brands will be losing some of their allure, which contributes to their high prices and desirability.

Quoted from chief executive of Brioni Roman Style Italian fashion house, Umberto Angelonithe: " When you start changing the ‘made in’ label, you create an expectation among consumers of lower prices, because everybody perceives costs in such countries to be 90 per cent lower."

Moreover, some retailers believe that Chinese factories lack the craftsmanship and experience to make luxury goods. Chinese labor would have to learn skills that were passed down from generations to generations in order to produce the same level of quality European products.

Many of these high-end luxury brands used to source for quality craftsmanship, emphasizing the importance to their brand. By moving manufacturing to a low cost country, it contradicts with their original company objectives and missions.

Me and luxury

Hi there. Welcome to the Grand opening of Charis’ blog on the luxury goods industry.

I am currently a last semester business student at the University of Southern California. I am majoring in both accounting and business administration, emphasizing in Information Operations Management, and I am also pursuing a minor in Psychology. I was born in Taiwan but more than half of my life I was living in Malaysia and Singapore because of my Dad's business. We have a manufacturing plant in Malaysia for magic pens and markers. I grew up literally with the company, maybe that's why I inherited the 'businessman-woman' gene and so I hope one day I would be able to set up my own manufacturing business.

For my blog, I will be blogging on anything that is related to the high-end luxury goods (clothing, handbags, accessories etc.) industry. For instance, writing about issues such as why companies producing high-end luxury products are moving their manufacturing plants to low costs countries such as China, the pros and cons of this movement, and its potential impact on customers.

To tell you the truth, I wasn’t a big fan of branded goods before I came to USC. Names such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Tiffany sounded foreign to me. After three and a half years of influence from rich kids all over the world, I had transformed from a couldn’t-care-less to a brand-conscious-enthusiast. I still remember the first time during freshman year that I woke up at 4am to queue for some luxury handbags with my friends during Thanksgiving… Since then, it has become a yearly routine and some shallow obsession has started to develop for luxury goods. That is the reason why I am interested in writing about this particular industry. (Who knows, maybe I will be setting up a high-end luxury goods manufacturing plant someday)

Being a poor college student right now, branded clothing and accessories are more than I could afford. For now, I can only enjoy the simple joy of writing about them, looking at them on magazines and in stores and hoping some good friends will give them to me *hint intended*.

If you are interested in the luxury goods industry or want to learn more like I do, do return for more! I will have a discussion of high-end luxury goods offshoring their manufacturing to Asia next.