Competition

To begin with, we would like to note that there are multiple solutions of waste bins in the market. It is important to remind that XBin is competing only with other litter bin alternatives, therefore the big waste container manufacturers are at this stage disregarded. A crucial point to consider here is the material that the litter bins are made of. Typically, most bins are made of plastic, variation of metal or stainless steel, the last being the most durable and attractive from the design perspective. Therefore, all competition for litter bins can be further divided into three categories: low-end, middle, and premium product. The products are divided into the categories according to price.

Due to certain constraint of obtaining the prices for all the competitors (B2B market, prices not publicly available), we have followed the logical conclusion that since stainless steel is often the most expensive material to be used for making the litter bins, we have made an analysis of competing products that are, like XBin, also made out of stainless steel. The other two categories are disregarded since XBin is targeting big construction facilities such as stadiums, airports etc, where the client is more sensitive to design rather than price, hence it is unlikely that cheaper versions of litter bins would be considered by our potential client.

Below competition matrix chart is presented. The chart evaluates XBin major competitors according to product functionality, price, quality, safety, design, global involvement, presence in the Middle East and also mentions certain aspects that make those products more advantageous than XBin products.

It is important to note however, that due to specifics of litter bins business, there were certain constraints for obtaining information about competitors and the following list may not be precisely accurate or full. It was rather challenging to find information on Asian manufacturers of waste bins, however, after due research, it seems that most manufacturers focus on producing cheap solutions, that do not stand out with their design, therefore, which means that they are not primary competitors for XBin products (a typical example is provided at the end of the matrix chart).


Environmental Expert website (link below) was the primary source engine since it lists all litter bin manufacturers. As a search filter "waste bins" were selected as well as "Asia and Middle East" as the advanced search criteria. 
http://www.environmental-expert.com/products/keyword-waste-bins-10712/location-asia-middle-east

(***** - highest score, * - lowest score, all scores are based on our observation and comparisons)


Competition Matrix Chart

To conclude, there are not that many companies that emphasize safety, quality and design of litter bins simultaneously. Nevertheless, there are very strong competitors for XBin as seen from the chart. To stress again, we believe the customers that purchase litter bins for such big sites as airports and stadiums are mostly interested in the design and safety of the bins. Design of the bins comes of paramount importance due to the fact that it must comply with the design of the building. Even though XBin bins can be considered costly (compared to competitors and due to manufacturing in Finland), the price of bins in relation to the amount of money allocated to architectural design of the building becomes insignificant. Therefore, we believe XBin should emphasize its Nordic origin and promote Nordic design as its primary competitive advantage.