Product Manufacturer Vs Branding

Question

When you come across a product such as ANENG 620A multimeter and then you see an almost identical product such as Tool Top ET8134, what goes through your mind?

Which is the manufacturer? or is either company the manufacturer?
How do you go about trying figure out who the real manufacturer is?
Do you even care who the manufacturer is? (it may speak to quality)
Would you prefer to buy from the manufacturer, or just whichever is cheaper?
Are brand names important to you?
Do you have other examples that you are puzzled about?

I am perfectly fine with re-branding products, there are lots of good reasons from the point of view of both companies, but I still would like to know the pedigree.

By the way, the features and look of this meter caught my eye before I got curious about its origin.

jw0752 · Answer

Hi Doug,

What you describe is pretty common across many industries. Sometimes the company requesting private labeling is buying enough product that they can even get specific modifications so that their product has some special features that the other look alikes don't have. Then there is also the knock off that will steal the appearance of a product and fill it with a cheap simulation of the original product. Sometimes it is very hard to tell whether one is looking at a private label product or a knock off. Just as there are some standard rules on the "Made In County" labels there should be some rules regarding labeling for "Manufactured By Company". As a repair man I also believe that all products should have technical data sheets available to the customers of products. I believe that a lot of manufacturers do not have the marketing organizations needed to go international. By allowing their products to be private labeled and distributed through several marketing organizations they can greatly expand their sales.

John

ralphjy · Answer

I encountered an interesting case of this with wireless doorbell cameras. There only seem to be a few Chinese OEMs producing IP camera hardware. These get rebranded and differentiated by the firmware installed on the camera and the mobile/web applications provided. I had purchased a doorbell camera when it was on sale and had a number of issues with its operation. I discovered on the internet that the way to fix my problems was to use a different manufacturer's firmware/app with my hardware. I guess this is somewhat unfair to the other manufacturer, somewhat like using an Adafruit library with a Chinese knockoff. I do try to buy products from the vendors that supply the libraries/software, but many times this is not possible because of product availability. It used to be that brand was a testament to the quality of manufacturing and test, but in a highly competitive environment where much of that is outsourced - that may no longer be true. The other quandary with rebranded products is whether you can get tech support for problems.

neilk · Answer

In a post titled "Looking for a Good Multimeter": https://www.element14.com/community/message/294493/l/re-looking-for-a-good-multimeter#294493 by garythomas there is a reply from avnrdf where reference is made to a Tenma 72-7780 72-7780 DMM being a rebanded UNI-T UT39C. Because the device seemed reasonably priced, I looked further into it and found that I could buy the Tenma 72-7780 72-7780 from Farnell for GBP£52.35. However, I could buy the UNI-T UT39C from Amazon UK for GBP£44.99 and when I looked again a couple of days later, for some reason Amazon would now sell it for GBP30.50 !! (This was some while ago. If you look on Amazon now they seem to be selling for a wide range of different prices - I think one of the differentiators is the absence/presence of a carrying case.) I took the plunge and placed an order which was delivered, free, in less than 48 hours. However, when it arrived, although it looked identical to the photographs, it was actually branded SIGNSTEK UT139C. The spec appears to be the same and I am very happy with my purchase. I'm intrigued to know which is the original, which is/are rebrand(s) and which, if any is a clone and therefore possibly risky?? Neil

dougw · Answer

I usually assume if a company like Newark/Farnell/Avnet decides to rebrand a product (to Tenma in this case), it means they have done some homework to determine that the product is good value, so Farnell seems to agree with you that your meter is a good one. I am happy with all of the equipment I have that is rebranded to the Tenma brand.

Product Manufacturer Vs Branding

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