Zhenyuan

Recently, the Third Quarter Report of China's Home Appliance Industry in 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), which was directed by the China Home Appliance Research Institute and prepared by the National Home Appliance Industry Information Center, was released in Beijing. Wu Haitao, Executive Deputy Director of the National Home Appliance Industry Information Center, said that in terms of exports, in the second half of the year, especially since September, the negative impact of the long-term epidemic haze on the global industrial chain was further highlighted. Overlapping the regional production and power restrictions in the fourth quarter of China, it would squeeze the release of China's home appliance industry's production capacity and the profitability of enterprises to a certain extent. In the domestic market, consumption upgrading is an unchanging trend. Manufacturers actively expand their product boundaries from various dimensions such as functions, forms and categories to better meet the overflowing product demand in the context of consumption upgrading. The refinement of basic functions on traditional household appliances and the integration of different functions in emerging categories are two important directions for product upgrading.
Low level operation of household appliance industry
The report shows that in the third quarter of 2021, the retail sales of China's home appliance market will be 159.52 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of - 4.0%. In terms of export, the data of the General Administration of Customs showed that the export of household appliances in the third quarter was 168.03 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 22.1%; In the first three quarters, the cumulative export of household appliances was 476.88 billion yuan, up 20.2% year on year.
The report shows that in 2021, the sales of electric wires will still maintain the good trend since the epidemic, and the market size in the third quarter will be 75.14 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 9.0%. The offline channel was affected by local epidemic and extreme weather, and the recovery process of residents' real consumption willingness was blocked. The offline market size of household appliances in the third quarter was 84.38 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of - 13.3%. However, the offline market has irreplaceable advantages in promoting medium and high-end consumption and undertaking experiential consumption scenarios. Therefore, both dealers and household appliance manufacturers are actively exploring and creating a more efficient immersive experience consumption mode that forms a positive interaction with digital consumption.
The report shows that the proportion of the online and offline market size of household appliances in the third quarter was 47.1% ∶ 52.9%. In the category of household appliances, the online retail sales of color TV sets accounted for more than 50%, and the online sales of air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines accounted for more than 40%.
White electricity market structure upgrading
The report shows that in the third quarter, the overall performance of the color TV market was flat, the scale of offline sales continued to shrink, the trend of price increase that lasted for a year changed, and the average online price eased. The upgrade of screen size is still a hot spot in the market, and the smart large screen of 75  and above has been significantly improved.
In the third quarter, in the white electricity market, the demand for air conditioners was not strong, and the upgrading of energy efficiency products drove the average price to continue to rise. Compared with the large base of last year, the refrigerator and freezer market has experienced a small decline in scale, but the market structure has continued to upgrade, and the share of many refrigerators is unprecedented. Space utilization and fresh-keeping functions are the main selling points in the current market.
"Thanks to the increase in the share of high-end products, the overall scale of the washing machine category has grown slightly, and the health and washing and care functions have attracted much attention from consumers. The scale of the clothes dryer has continued to grow at a high speed in the past two years, and the share of the heat pump type online and offline products has exceeded 99%. The washing and drying package products formed with the washing machine are currently a hot spot in the market promotion." said Yang Zheng, a researcher at the National Home Appliance Industry Information Center.
Exploit market segments
The report shows that the overall scale of the kitchen electricity market has declined significantly, but gas stoves and dishwashers have maintained positive growth online, and integrated stoves of emerging categories have shown outstanding performance. Today, it has become the consensus of the industry to tap market segments, and future product development will focus more on segmentation functions.
"Intelligent and healthy functions are being integrated, and kitchen appliances that meet the needs of the market segments are emerging." Yang Zheng said that the products with large air volume of more than 18m3/min of range hoods occupy the mainstream, and the form innovation increases the added value of range hoods. The installation type of dishwasher is concentrated on embedded type, and the volume of 12 sets of bowls and 13 sets of bowls occupy the mainstream of the market.
In addition, the report shows that the small household appliance market has shrunk as a whole, especially the sales of small kitchen appliances have not returned to normal due to the high growth last year; Thanks to the rapid growth of new categories, the iterative launch of new products, and the rapid growth of brands, clean appliances are taking an increasing proportion in the small appliance market.
The household appliance industry has entered a mature period, and consumer demand is becoming more dispersed. Unlike the era when large single products dominated the market in the past, enterprises have tapped into the potential of market segmentation.
At present, people's lifestyle has changed. The report shows that "lazy people" household appliances have saved household time for users and become a new favorite of the market. More new "lazy people" categories have emerged and opened up more new tracks. With the continuous introduction of the policy of encouraging childbearing, the improvement of household accessories will become a new demand for many families. The demand for home appliances will be greater and more intelligent. The "second set" home appliances and maternal and infant home appliances also ushered in a rapid growth. Integration is also a major trend of home appliance hardware innovation, especially in kitchen electrical products, the traditional functions have been redefined and innovated with new ideas, and the growing categories of steaming and baking machines, integrated stoves/integrated cooking centers have been formed.
Focus on consumption experience
Yang Zheng said that in the exploration of sales mode, production enterprises and channel operators pay more attention to consumers' consumption experience and enjoyment. By creating a scene based consumption experience center, they can fully open up each module of home decoration, household appliances and home furnishing, and create a comprehensive home experience for customers, including living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and balcony.
"Based on a good immersive experience and intimate customized services, most consumers are willing to increase their budgets and buy more high-end and intelligent products. Whether for enterprises, channels or consumers, the full scene experience brings about common improvement and win-win cooperation." Yang Zheng said.
Ovi Cloud said that in 2022, the market situation of the household appliance industry is expected to be slightly improved but still severe. It is estimated that the market size will increase by 2.4% year on year in 2021 and decrease by 3.4% year on year in 2019. In view of the year-on-year increase in prices in 2021, the growth momentum of retail sales will weaken in 2022, but the product function, structure upgrading and product iteration prompted by consumption upgrading will continue to improve. In addition, the popularity and growth of some emerging categories will also have a greater pull on the market. The market promotion of enterprise end and channel end will be superimposed, and the normalization of epidemic situation will gradually adapt to and reassure consumers, Therefore, it is expected that the market size will increase slightly in 2022 on the basis of 2021.