China’s Threat to Local Surfboard Builders
While Common “Wisdom” Suggests that Local Surfboard Builders Have Been Emasculated by Outsourcing to Countries Like China and Thailand, New Evidence Shows that Local Manufacturers Are More Resilient than Previously Thought
 It’s become common “wisdom” among a broad swath of surfers that the outsourcing of the board building industry to China and Thailand has deeply and irreversibly damaged the business of the local surfboard builder.
The thinking is fairly natural. Before the outsourcing began to gain momentum with the decline of Clark Foam, the local surfboard builder had sort of a monopoly in the industry. All surfers, whether beginner, intermediate, or advanced, had basically no other option but to purchase a locally built surfboard. But after the outsourcing went wild, the local board builder had his market share reduced to advanced surfers, while most of the beginners and many of the intermediate surfers sought the more inexpensive outsourced surfboards, aka “pop-outs.” And since their skill level was insensitive to the intricacies and nuances of a custom shape, the appeal of the pop-outs became all the more pressing.
 Then, thinking of the beginner, intermediate, and advanced surfboard market as somewhat an even distribution, the market share breaks down into 33% for the beginner, 33% for the intermediate, and 33% for the advanced market. At this point, math leads one to the inevitable conclusion that the local surfboard builder, whose market now is basically only the advanced surfer, saw his market share shrink from 100% before the outsourcing boom to 33% after it took place. As a result, one is naturally led to think of this phenomenon as the emasculation of the local board builder.
A recent report, however, conducted by Transworld Magazine, paints a radically different picture of the loss of market share. Although consistent with the thought that Asia has had a major role in snatching business from the local board builder, the report, based on more than 100 leading retailers and 50 top shapers, states that Asia manufactures 16.5% of the surfboards. Furthermore, the report says that the US is responsible for 71.9% of the manufactured boards; Central and South America for 6.4%; Europe for 1%; Australia for 4.4%; and Africa for 0%. Now if the manufacturing percentage is an indicator of market share, China, Thailand, and its cohorts, which are the capitols of outsourcing, have a claim on a relatively meager 16.5% of the buying market while the US, Central and South America, Europe, and Australia have a claim on the bulk of the market (83.7%), with the US leading the pack by leaps and bounds (71.9%).
 If the above remarks are correct, there is at least a lesson to be drawn and a concern to be considered. The lesson is that, even though the local board builder has certainly lost a significant market share to countries like China and Thailand (16.5%), the common “wisdom” among many surfers overestimates Asia’s market grab, which is relatively meager when compared to America’s dominance (71.9%) in this sector. But the concern to be considered is that today’s’ small consumer base could very well turn into tomorrow’s monopoly. Since the fall of Clark Foam, the apparent exponential growth of Asia’s market share adds credibility to the local manufacturer’s fear that today’s outsourcing woes could very well mean his competitive doom tomorrow. (Mylocallineup.com takes up this concern about the future of the board building industry and the relation between pop-outs and custom in an upcoming report.) But what’s important to glean from the present article is that, even though Asia has posed a formidable threat to the local surfboard builder, shapers, glassing shops, and suppliers, from California to Byron Bay, have been more resilient than common “wisdom” suggests.
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