WHEN Chinese men stare at the bathroom mirror in the morning, they have a growing array of choices on how their whiskers will meet their end - by Rhinoceros, Flying Eagle, Golden Deer or a foreign sword? The chances are growing they will reach for a foreign shaver by Philips - and plug it in, instead of lathering up.
Dutch company Philips, along with other foreign makers such as Braun of Germany, Gillette and Schick of the United States and Sanyo, Hitachi and Matsushita of Japan, are beginning to make inroads in the battle against China's whiskers.
They are among the first foreign consumer products, aside from food and drink, to gain broad acceptance in China, a signal for other producers that the age-old dream of an open market of 1.2 billion people may one day become a reality.
The foreign brand names have been promoted with slick advertising and fancy packaging. They have also been boosted by China's rapidly rising income levels, which have created a growing middle class ready and eager to spend more for product dependability and status.
In electric shavers, foreign makers retain a comfortable design and technology edge over domestic rivals, industry experts say.
China imported 33,142 electric shavers from January to November last year - an increase of 283 per cent compared with the same 1992 period, according to customs figures.