Local focus for Mobilia
Tough global competition forces manufacturer to change strategy

Furniture-maker Mobilia Co Ltd is focusing on the local market due to tougher global competition, and has reduced its exports from 25 per cent to 5 per cent of overall sales, the company’s marketing director said yesterday.

When Mobilia started operating in 2002, exports accounted 25 per cent of its sales, with Japan, Singapore and Lebanon among its major markets, said Narongchai Jerapanidchakul.

However,  foreign buyers are turning to cheaper furniture from China and Vietnam, which have lower labour costs.

“Thailand is not the furniture manufacturing hub any longer as we have lost competitiveness to China and Vietnam due to their lower wages,” he said.

Mobilia has launched the “Mobilia Flexy Living” concept to help it penetrate the domestic market, and is confident it will become one of the top furniture brands among interior designers and high-income buyers who admire the design and style of imported furniture. Mobilia’s products are 200 to 250 per cent cheaper than imported products of comparable standard, Narongchai said. Mobilia has spent Bt15 million on a new showroom on the fifth floor of Siam Discovery Centre to tap the market from the increasing number of condominium projects in central Bangkok.

The showroom will expand Mobilia’s customer base to the Sathorn, Phaholyothin and Thon Buri areas and is expected to increase its revenues by 35 to 37 per cent, Narongchai said.

The company has set a revenue target of Bt45m for this year, half of which will come from supplying housing and condominium projects and the other half from retail sales at its two showrooms. Sales last year were Bt37m.

Mobilia will also expand into selling imported furniture and accessories with the opening of a retail outlet early next year that will stock at least five European brands, including Bonaldo, Narongchai said.

He said Thailand imported furniture worth more than Bt500m each year.

Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation