Fluke Chinese market multimeters?

[Axtman]

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!")?

[Jeroen3]

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.

[mzacharias]

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!")?

Plenty 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.

[Fungus]

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!")?

Because:
a) Chinese people have less money (they can't afford USA prices)
b) USA people have more money and can be milked for USA prices.

(the fact that many Americans believe that something from China is automatically garbage also helps)

[jaleaver]

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!

[Axtman]

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?

[shteii01]

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.

[shteii01]

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.

No. 110 is not available in China. But why do you want to buy one? There is a better and cheaper 115, which is official recommended replacement of discontinued 110.

My next Fluke will be 117.

[Axtman]

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.

[Convolution]

Because:
a) Chinese people have less money (they can't afford USA prices)
b) USA people have more money and can be milked for USA prices.

(the fact that many Americans believe that something from China is automatically garbage also helps)

Its called price discrimination and differential pricing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination

In the airline industry it called yield management and is very obvious. Different people pay different amount for essentially the same seat.

[nanofrog]

No doubt Fluke (and the evil Danaher Corp, their corporate masters) would like to keep this to a minimum.

FWIW, Danaher spun off their T&M and a couple of other divisions into a separate company called Fortive as of July 2016. According to their directory, they're comprised of 20 companies. Source for 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.

[AG6QR]

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.

[tautech]

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/

[cdev]

http://www.pharmamyths.net/files/CANCER-Market_spiral_pricing_PUBL_11-5-13.pdf

Because:
a) Chinese people have less money (they can't afford USA prices)
b) USA people have more money and can be milked for USA prices.

(the fact that many Americans believe that something from China is automatically garbage also helps)

Its called price discrimination and differential pricing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_discrimination

In the airline industry it called yield management and is very obvious. Different people pay different amount for essentially the same seat.

[crazyguy]

Those 15B, 17B, 18B ... DMM use Taiwan chipset DMM solution, do not has Fluke DNA inside

[tautech]

Those 15B, 17B, 18B ... DMM use Taiwan chipset DMM solution, do not has Fluke DNA inside

Did you not follow the link I posted and read it ?

I am in charge of a large amount of ETE for a Military Technical training establishment. When looking for a meter to augment our fleet of elderly Fluke 25's, I eventually choose the Fluke 15b. In the 2 years that they have been bashed about by hundreds of Trainees, not a single unit has drifted out of calibration or had any other failure. I have dismantled one to satisfy myself that yes, they are indeed real Flukes. The quality compared to every other meter in the price range is outstanding. An engineer needs to have confidence in the tools they use, and this is one tool that I now own for my own use. Buy an F17b and be happy.

I supplied those 15B's and checked each and every one before dispatch.
Warranty only applies in China labels 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.

[EEVblog]

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.

They are designed, tested and certified in the US to Fluke's usual standard.

Plus, there is a demand for them in the US. This is why I am so puzzled that they cannot be imported.

Because Fluke don't want to, for *insert reason*.

[EEVblog]

Those 15B, 17B, 18B ... DMM use Taiwan chipset DMM solution, do not has Fluke DNA inside

But they are designed, tested, and certified in the US by Fluke, so that is most certainly "Fluke DNA".

[Fungus]

Those 15B, 17B, 18B ... DMM use Taiwan chipset DMM solution, do not has Fluke DNA inside

But they are designed, tested, and certified in the US by Fluke, so that is most certainly "Fluke DNA".

They 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.

[bluey]

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=1

I'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

[EEVblog]

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!")?

They 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.

[M0HZH]

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.

[bluey]

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.

[Fungus]

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.

Car 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.

[bluey]

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.