Living in Hong Kong and has access with the mainland China collector's view, I would like to share some opinions on different brands and the future of them.
1) Phoenix
Contray to the general views shared by many NA/Europe collectors that PH's mould catalog seems to be the most uncompetitive in the market. (Lack of new types, struggle to keep up to competitors on many aspects - 777 engines/A330&340 nose gear door/787 wingflex etc) Chinese collectors are generally loving PH offerings to the point that they despise everybody else in the market and just stick with PH till the end of the world. People there would made claims such as PH 787 wingflex is recreating one inflight and suggesting that the wing's curvature is correct while teasing JC and NG's 787 as rubbish and AV400 should just destroy their 787 given the hideous quality. They also said things like PH 350 has an accurate nose form whereas AV400's effort are trash as suggested by light reflections (I would explain it later), PH 737max are the best in market etc.
It is only the 747s that even Chinese PH fanboy collectors admit is terrible.
With these fanboys that buys models on a regular basis (Almost everything from PH can be gobbled up by China's PH collectors - regardless of how awful QC are), I don't see how PH won't stay in business - also no reason for PH to improve when their customer base believe their mould are "The most accurate"
2) JC Wings/Gemini
JC Wings
JC Wings are generally seen as an inferior alternative to PH and Chinese collectors are no shy on their despise to them. They claimed JC's widebodies in general are awful when compared to PH (Though they do admit JC's regional airliners such as Dash 8s are great) with improper shapes and terrible paint quality. (PH's lacquer do looks great when compared to JC, but do PH these days still apply lacquer to their products?
)
JC would likely be reckoned for their desire to try to tweak their castings for new suprises (Interactice freighters, flap down aircrafts etc), I ain't that sure if they could survive in the long run though
Price of JC these days are rather embarrassing as it just sit in a weird spot where it's not low enough to compete with AV400 on the lower end market, but also not high enough to be that "Premium" like GJ, AC and PH. But I think JC would probably stay afloat with their huge catalog covering almost everything.
Gemini Jets
GJ, whom shares JC casting, are even more harshly criticised in China given the pricepoint - just like in the West where we all like to criticise GJ's price.
They tease that GJ, with their expensive pricetag, must have producted the MOST accurate rendition with license obtained.
(Sorry for the subtle satire)
If GJ stays like this, I see GJ on the path to failure on B2C market - overpriced products, unloved by almost every consumer, lack of manufacturing ability... literally debuffs as a manufacturer
Yet they would probably still live on as a brand that collab with airlines on producing official merchandises - like Dragon towards the end of DW brand that solely manufacture airline models for airline use.
Heard that there are friction between GJ and JC, mostly surrounding on issues regarding release set. JC wants to cater the western market more while GJ are constantly blocking what JC wants to make while sticking with their using releases of EK and US6 GJ fear new release would destroy the value of their own past products
3) NG models
Opinions on NG in China are rather mixed, but given most collectors are loving PH, NG are often despised by them - just like JC. They admit some NG products such as 757-200 are rather decent, but they claimed NG's business strategy are "Evil" while mould quality are rather lacking and uncompetitive. They often moan how NG stuck with specific release patterns that they don't like and I feel like they went a bit too much. For example they harshly criticise NG for poor aircraft choice on the China Eastern Yunan "Peacock" 73H pair - one coincide with Panda's offering(B-1788) while the other one(B-1791) is the aircraft involved in MU5735. They claimed such release are a way to cause huge deflation to Panda's 73H B-1788 price and the choice of B-1791 upset the victim families.
I dunno.... Oh and they usually will still buy them despite their hatred online
Maybe like an old saying"口嫌體正直"（Claim to be hating, but in reality loving it）
I feel like NG is in an aggresive expansion spree, but who knows when will people stop feeling the freshness from NG like we do today? Maybe by then NG will go burst like old Witty, or come out of it and become more JC-like in terms of mould owned?
I don't really sure.
4) AV400
AV400 are so cheap to the point that many young collectors start from buying ther products. AV build up quite a fanbase within the young and would share their despise towards other brands - especially PH. AV400 collectors and PH collectors just hate each other so much that dogfights between them are commonplace - even more heated than AK vs Richard LOL. AV400 even openly shame PH to justify their products while PH fans frequently said AV400 products are so rubbish that they should have just destroy the mould and fold up the business altogether.
If AV400 stick with the strategy of undercutting competitors, I don't see how they would get themselves out of business given the large low-end market. It's just that the brand just don't feels "Premium" and would have hard time to upgrade brand image should thy want to.
5)Aeroclassics
God knows what AK will release
It feels more like AK's playground than other else. The packaging are also really old-schooled. (Not a bad thing for staying consistent, but just feeling a bit dated
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I am a bit torn on this one, it seems like the brand now solely relies on AK's interest - and god knows how long would AK be able to manage the brand he own. I'm a bit pessimistic on AC - if AK is lost, then the brand would probably lose it's focus
6) PandaModels
Who knows when will they come out with releases. They should find a tarot to see how they could break up that bad with their previous partners.
Mould are generally decent with none feels particularly weak - it's just that the root for some mould (A320 family/A330) are rather sketchy
I dunno how to comment on this brand - they seems to be totally fine for suspending operations for some time, then return out of nowhere to make some release before returning to hiatus.
