Official market channels are beginning to deliver, but critical and hard-to-find items, for example TPS54160DGQR by Texas Instruments, PIC32MZ1024 ECG100-I/PT by Microchip Technology Inc or XC5VLX50T-1FFG1136C by AMD Xilinx, only sourceable from parallel markets are not yet fully available.
All that remains to companies desperate for these parts, then, is the gray market, but it is a tough choice to make and manage. The Asian culture (where much of this market operates) is very different and often reserves some unpleasant surprises for buyers from Europe or the USA – even if they have many years of experience working with an independent supplier and/or broker.
But what exactly do we mean by these cultural differences?
Did you know that the Chinese culture, in particular, prioritizes their company’s protection over the customer’s relationship?
This means that, even if they have an order in progress or already filled, and another buyer that guarantees them more advantageous economic conditions comes onto the scene, many Asian or Chinese suppliers will give preference to the latest buyer.
And, in their culture, they would feel themselves ethically justified andin the right to do so.
With this insight, is it likely that this could represent a problem for your supplies?
And what if we added that this often occurs even when these European or American buyers have already paid the Asian or Chinese supplier for the order?
Choosing an independent distributor with a proven track record, like ours, (refer to our previous newsletter
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for further details), can be a valuable strategy for avoiding these types of unpleasant surprises.
