2015 is drawing to the end soon. Whether we have or have not got together again this year, our hearts always meet.

 - We were approached by very distinctive cultures this year. Rather different from those that we are used to. We remain never pushy to plant our new businesses. After enough acquaintances, mutual trust & tolerance will foster by themselves, if partners can respect each other. Good things will come to good minds.

 - Weak global demand is taking its toll on our manufacturing sector. We saw a very obvious double-digit fall in 4th quarter 2015! Though we actually have a record-high growth for overall 2015, the downside pull is coming very strong.

 - The manufacturing costs keep rising because of the structural improvements in China & Vietnam . We have no other choice but to cut our margin to accommodate key customers' price concession demands. As far as we see it, market is not that poor, but sentiment certainly is not the highest. For our old comrades, we have no hesitation to hand in the extra support . We can comprehend the discomfort caused by the fluctuation of Euro, which is similar to our Rmb & wage surges in the recent years. It's time we show you the true team spirit.

 - we hope to see deeper deflation of Rmb to help us back on the margin.

 - In difficult times, we can see clearly the strength of our business partners & their weighting on us, in terms of their resources allocation & their sense of partnership. For those who chose to fall out, if that were due to the insufficiency of LHC, we certainly should learn & improve very quickly! Understanding & trust can be lengthy process. As long as we can prove ourselves to be professional & reliable, hopefully we will not be forgotten that easily. We have strong hold in the market. Very confident that we will talk again before long.

 - No M&A in 2015. But in serious partnership discussion with a new material-supplier . The dwindled market slowed us down though.

 - We failed in the "small order" experiment at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council forum. Thanks to their invitation. Unfortunately, the market feedback was not sufficient.

 - We are confident to practise 3D printing in full scale this year. Till now, the technology & cost are very manageable. It begins a new era in our R&D. With the aid of traditional sculpture & casting technology, which are still indispensable & irreplaceable in our product range, our customers can create much bigger dreams!

 - We need talents! We have been adding headcount & responsibilities in HK head office. Rather unexpectedly, our path has been rough. The traditional Hong-Kong-spirit (such as, openness to challenges, endurance, responsiveness, goal-orientation.....) are said to have become heritage out of reach ! Very uncommon now. Although we can always have alternative talents from elsewhere, personally it is sad to see the downfall of this once golden land . Is this place no longer the brewery for leaders & opportunities? In my recent experience with Korean customers, I am so impressed that generally they have high self-image as a Quality Country! What an achievement in just a decade ! How do they empower themselves? What are HongKongers lagging behind?

 - We still have no plan to Brand nor launch ODM products, nor to indulge into the China consumer market. However, this year we have assisted a few key customers to access to the vast China mainland domestic market in several ways. Their results are to be seen.


***********************************************************

Our tasks are mostly at the backstage & our customers to do the runway. On some 

 - are roles changing? 

Those big importing countries are trying to go back to "re-industrialising", while China is pushing away low-end industries . The world factory is fighting to upgrade itself from labor intensive blood-n-sweat OEM workshops to higher position in world's value chain. The historical China conditions are changing : Labor is not surplus but shortage ; educated talents & technical input from investment not appeared as have thought ; domestic capital has become abundant...... Statistics showed global wealth re-distributed. Even China is exporting its industries abroad! However, the facts are : R&D and marketing still are dominated by foreign multinationals . China is large but not sophisticated...... To us, China & Vietnam as our production sites can stay. Real labor cost in China is still competitive, if one can make a fair comparison instead of just looking at the nominal numbers. China creativity should not be under-scaled. The traditional Chinese way of self-reliance & persistence is treasure. We finally see satisfactory infra-structure, political stability & commercial versatility in China. We will not easily give up this strategic base.

 - LHC into new frontier?
 If any of you still want to bring us with your adventurous expeditions, pls kindly let me know in advance. And pls ensure no terrorism & diseases out there.

 - How to make our factories preferable working places?

We are working hard to get new blood into our mfg world. An average 30% annual wage increase proved to be not good enough. Free dormitory may not be taken. Disciplinary measures were provoked. Experience & seniority not necessarily respectful...... We are at the inferior end to compete with the trendy industries. Our blue-collar sector is aging. We are thinking on the solutions.

I wish you all a SAFE & sound X'mas & 2016! Let's keep our legends going on & on!

 Passionately from,
 Leona

 December 2015 

☆　　╱╲ ╱╲　☆　　☆　　☆ 
╱╳+▲╱　　╲　╱╲　☆　 ☆ 
╱╱　◢◣+　　　╳　　╲　 ☆ 
╱　+◢█◣　　／　　　　╲☆　　　☆ 
☆　◢██◣ 聖誕及新年快樂 Wish U Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
___▂▂█▂▂__メリークリスマス & 明けましておめでとうございます!