As the Pool Industry Grows As Does China’s Influence

Around the pool and spa industry, including here at Pleatco, emails from Chinese companies appear frequently. In the past, pool and spa companies mostly ignored these emails disregarding them due to the origin of the email. Recently, as the emails flood in companies are more aware of these Chinese companies. These companies are displaying themselves in the marketplace even here in the United States. Just last month at the Pool Spa Patio Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, more than 2 dozen Chinese manufacturing companies occupied booth spaces at the show. Now, more and more pool and spa products including toys, chemicals, pumps, and covers are being made for less money in China. While some believe it is not worth the hassle to deal with the “inferior products” or difficulty in communicating with foreigners, others believe in order to be competitive in today’s market you must product overseas. Is China the way of the future? Is it better to buy overseas for less but risk buying an inferior product?