Fluke Chinese market multimeters? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Axtman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2018, 07:09:06 am
content: Why does Fluke manufacturer meters that are only available in China (15B, 17B, 18B, 101, etc.)? Why aren't they available in the States ("USA! USA! USA!")?

author: Jeroen3
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2018, 08:03:57 am
content: Because you can buy the better USA version?Some countries have strict import restrictions, or completely different price expectations. So the only way to sell stuff is to have it produced locally.

author: mzacharias
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2018, 11:26:48 am
content: Quote from: Axtman on January 09, 2018, 07:09:06 amPlenty of these models get sold on eBay every day. I suppose they are shipped from China, and I wouldn't think they would carry the U.S. warranty.As to why they sell those meters in China but not in the U.S. I'm sure they have valid marketing reasons.For one thing there would be a very robust market for Fluke-branded product in China, but your average Chinese worker buying one for himself would probably not be able to afford the high international cost of say a Fluke 87V.Also, selling lower cost handheld models in the U.S. will in some cases come at the expense of sales of their higher priced models. No doubt Fluke (and the evil Danaher Corp, their corporate masters) would like to keep this to a minimum.Also, they already sell the Amprobe line in the U.S. - some cheaper models there as well.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 09, 2018, 01:30:19 pm
content: Quote from: Axtman on January 09, 2018, 07:09:06 amBecause:a) Chinese people have less money (they can't afford USA prices)b) USA people have more money andcanbe milked for USA prices.(the fact that many Americans believe that something from China is automatically garbage also helps)

author: jaleaver
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 09, 2018, 11:14:03 pm
content: Fluke along with other suppliers ie siemens, sell "china only" equipment, none of these units should be sold or exported out of china (they do however).As for chinese Flukes you find on ebay etc, I keep remembering a SICK rep told me, They had a big meeting in china, the head sales guy pasted around a lot of different SICK products and asked to pick the fake, no one could, he then stated they all were!

author: Axtman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2018, 06:36:02 am
content: Usually items that can not be imported into the United States do not conform to codes, regulations or laws. As far as I can tell the "China Only" meters do conform to Fluke high standards and are quality products. Plus, there is a demand for them in the US. This is why I am so puzzled that they cannot be imported.Aren't the Fluke 115, 116 and 117 meters made in China as well yet they can be imported?

author: shteii01
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2018, 11:21:26 am
content: Is Fluke 110 considered Chinese market?I ask because they are sold in Lowe's which is a national chain of stores here in US of A.

author: shteii01
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2018, 11:34:45 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on January 10, 2018, 11:26:26 amMy next Fluke will be 117.

author: Axtman
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 10, 2018, 10:23:58 pm
content: Fluke 117 is a great electrician's meter! The other meters in the series 115 and 116 are the same but just lack features.There is a guy on YouTube, Joe Smith, that tries to damage meters with high voltage surges. He could not destroy the $50 Fluke 101 meter. Check the videos out.

author: Convolution
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 13, 2018, 10:52:45 am
content: Quote from: Fungus on January 09, 2018, 01:30:19 pmIts called price discrimination and differential pricing.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discriminationIn the airline industry it called yield management and is very obvious. Different people pay different amount for essentially the same seat.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 13, 2018, 02:19:43 pm
content: Quote from: mzacharias on January 09, 2018, 11:26:48 amFWIW, Danaher spun off their T&M and a couple of other divisions into a separate company calledFortiveas of July 2016. According to their directory, they're comprised of 20 companies.Sourcefor date.And don't forget all the companies that fall under the 20 that are listed. Fluke's corporate page shows an additional 9 for example. Oddly enough though, neither Amprobe nor Pomona are listed among them. And no details on their respective web pages.

author: AG6QR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 01:12:10 am
content: I'm located in the USA, and I recently purchased a Fluke 101 meter, mostly to keep in my car for basic use in diagnosing malfunctions that happen when I'm not carrying one of my "big" meters.The box has the following text:Must be purchased from Fluke authorized distribution partner in country of end use.Warranty void if purchased from a non-authorized distribution partner.Since there is no authorized distributer in the USA, you can't purchase one here and expect to get a warranty. But I don't expect to need warranty service, and since it's so cheap, I'm prepared to replace it if required. I bought mine from one of the many on-line sources.I also have a Fluke 179, and an old Fluke 16. I've used a borrowed Fluke 117. I've got a few non-Fluke meters, as well. This Fluke 101 has very few features, but it does them very well. Its input protection appears to be top notch. It has no current measurement capability whatsoever, which has the side effect of meaning its input is always high impedance, and there is no fuse required or present. It is always auto ranging, with no manual ranging override. It is tiny and lightweight compared to any other Fluke I have seen. There is no display backlight, and no stand to prop it up.It seems to me that Fluke made the business decision that they didn't want this meter competing at the low end of the US market, so they don't import it here. But we can get it through unauthorized channels. That's not illegal; it's just not supported by the manufacturer, so no warranty is provided. I still think it's a good meter for those who can live within its very basic capabilities.

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 02:17:38 am
content: Bit of old info in this thread but still very relevant here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/my-first-'expensive'-dmm-thoughts-fluke-17b/

author: cdev
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 04:10:55 am
content: http://www.pharmamyths.net/files/CANCER-Market_spiral_pricing_PUBL_11-5-13.pdfQuote from: Convolution on January 13, 2018, 10:52:45 am

author: crazyguy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 04:33:12 am
content: Those 15B, 17B, 18B ... DMM use Taiwan chipset DMM solution, do not has Fluke DNA inside

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 07:08:26 am
content: Quote from: crazyguy on January 14, 2018, 04:33:12 amDid you not follow the link I posted andreadit ?Quote from: wilgil on February 19, 2015, 05:18:56 amI supplied those 15B's and checked each and every one before dispatch.Warrantyonly applies in Chinalabels were in each DMM package.The extra units I got to cover a possible warranty failure (at my risk), well I might not have bothered but I kept one as my daily driver and sold the other to a neighbor and AFAIK all are still operative. Years have now passed and I thank member wilgil for doing the research and putting me onto what's proved to be a good, cheap and trustworthy DMM.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 08:32:41 am
content: Quote from: Axtman on January 10, 2018, 06:36:02 amThey are designed, tested and certified in the US to Fluke's usual standard.QuoteBecause Fluke don't want to, for *insert reason*.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 08:34:38 am
content: Quote from: crazyguy on January 14, 2018, 04:33:12 amBut they are designed, tested, and certified in the US by Fluke, so that is most certainly "Fluke DNA".

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2018, 09:41:55 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on January 14, 2018, 08:34:38 amThey also did better than a Fluke 87V in joe's electrical robustness tests and were still like new after his "50,000 turns of the dial" test.There's no doubt the Fluke 17B+ is a Fluke.

author: bluey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 06:50:52 am
content: Some history of Fluke in China."My Fist Impression of China - Washingtonian's First Trips to the Middle Kingdon", Chapter 25 - John Fluke Story First Trip 1985.https://books.google.com.au/books?id=EmNxBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=fluke+corporation+factory+china&source=bl&ots=VOgwy9otdZ&sig=ACfU3U38TCI0KquA6uflTCAbOk5drUnimA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiohIqxkabpAhVg4jgGHcJfDxcQ6AEwDnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=fluke%20corporation%20factory%20china&f=false"Because China had an insatiable knowledge for knowhow, our connections there led to licence relationships with three factories: Beijing Radio Research Institute in 1979, a similar state-owned corporation in Shanghai in the early 1980s, and another in Chengdu in 1985. Each was granted rights to sell selected Fluke products, which they received as kits to be assembled and sold only in China."Chengdu appears to specialize in Fluke Calibration instruments.Museum of history photo from Beijing Radio Researcg Institute 1985.https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/imlsmohai/id/15336/Beijing EFE Electronic Technology possibly manufactures (hard to make sense of the Chinglish) higher end Fluke multimeters and other higher end Fluke items.http://www.bjefe.com/D_detail_en.asp?id=1I'm guessing that FLUKE TESTING INSTRUMENTS (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD. (CHINA), with 259 employees makes the low end Fluke meters. Since they have been there from early on, perhaps they don't make anybody else's meters?https://www.emis.com/php/company-profile/CN/Fluke_Testing_Instruments__Shanghai__Co_Ltd__%E7%A6%8F%E7%A6%84%E5%85%8B%E6%B5%8B%E8%AF%95%E4%BB%AA%E5%99%A8_%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7_%E6%9C%89%E9%99%90%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8__en_5068189.html

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 07:18:58 am
content: Quote from: Axtman on January 09, 2018, 07:09:06 amThey don't want to erode their brand name in the west, yet also want to capitalise on the price sensitive local Chinese market.This experiment started with the (disastrous) Fluke 19, which was also sold in the Asia Pacific region only (i.e. Australia and New Zealand) as an experiment. I guess they determined it did cheapen the brand in the west so they started to only sell in China.

author: M0HZH
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 10:11:00 am
content: Dave is pretty much spot on, Fluke's branding in the west (especially on multimeters) is premium class, they don't want to be seen as a company that makes US$30 meters. Plus, with all the high overhead and channel costs (logistics / sales / marketing), they would probably lose money on the products anyway.They use the Amprobe brand to try and compete in that price range, they're relatively decent for the price.

author: bluey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 12:51:51 pm
content: Whilst their rationale is about not eroding the market, it is just as likely they could get the foot in the door with students/apprentices and create lifetime brand loyalty. Carmakers do that fairly successfully.The plethora of brands in the market is clear evidence of lack of market presence of any dominant player.BTW the cheap Flukes are sold in Japan with “Fluke” branding not chinese like the aliexpress chinese market models.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 02:06:24 pm
content: Quote from: bluey on May 09, 2020, 12:51:51 pmCar makers have a lot more room to differentiate on features.Fluke's "USA" meters are so overpriced that to avoid eroding the market they'd have to make low end meters so bad that nobody would buy them.Fluke's parent company has other brands of meter to sell in that price range so they simply don't care about making cheap Flukes.

author: bluey
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 10:13:42 pm
content: Carmakers know that once they get someone to buy their brand, they have a good chance of sticking to the brand over time and trading up. Which is why they have models that go all the way from mini to super luxury.It feasible that the reason is a historical accident rather than a marketing decision, since the original Fluke licencing agreement described by John Fluke int he book chapter was that products made in China were only for the local market and not to be sold back to USA.

author: engrguy42
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 11:00:05 pm
content: FWIW, I saw a statistic that said the average hourly wage for a factory worker in China is $1.36, and in the US it's $23.32 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). And the average workday in US is 8.6 hours, and in China it's like 12 hours. No wonder US companies are desperate to get stuff from China and increase their profit margin. And US consumers are desperate to get all that yummy low priced stuff.I also imagine Chinese manufacturers are more than capable of following US manufacturers' design specs.

author: Mp3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2020, 11:18:05 pm
content: I bought a china market 101 something like 6 years ago and i have had no complaints with it, also it has been handled quite rough over the years and has taken its fair share of falls.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2020, 06:06:37 am
content: Quote from: bluey on May 09, 2020, 10:13:42 pmNot all of them.Bugatti don't make any cheap cars. Neither does Ferrari, Porsche, Koenigsegg ... or a dozen others, andthoseare the cars that boys have posters of on their walls.Fluke isn't really in that category though, they're more like Mercedes or BMW - the same driving experience as a Ford but you pay alotmore for the badge.Quote from: Mp3 on May 09, 2020, 11:18:05 pmYep, all those meters are 100% Fluke quality on the inside.