Household appliance transformation and upgrading: In the first half of the year, the profits of enterprises in the household appliance industry increased by 20.2% year-on-year

From January to June this year, enterprises in the home appliance industry achieved a revenue of 914.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%; Achieved a profit of 67.49 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.2%. Facing the future, as the pace of promoting stock updates, expanding high-quality supply, and guiding home appliances to rural areas continues to accelerate, the development potential of the home appliance industry will be further stimulated.

Precise path planning and self cleaning with mops, upgraded sweeping robots make daily cleaning easier; The air purifier equipped with a brand new sensor not only has low noise and energy consumption, but also can remotely remove formaldehyde and supply air with one click; Real time video guidance, automatic steam cleaning, and the new all-in-one steaming, baking, and frying machine make kitchen novices fall in love with cooking... They have taken a walk in the home appliance market, showcasing a variety of different categories and bringing new ideas.

The continuous renewal of various major electrical brands reflects the surging vitality of the home appliance industry. As a traditional advantageous industry in China, the home appliance industry is also an important engine for stable industrial growth and promoting consumption. What new features have emerged in the home appliance industry since the beginning of this year? Where should we start to better stimulate the role of the home appliance market in promoting consumption and expanding domestic demand? The reporter interviewed industry experts and some home appliance enterprises.

Enhancing innovation capabilities

Developing Whole House Intelligence

According to data, from January to June this year, home appliance industry enterprises achieved revenue of 914.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%; Achieved a profit of 67.49 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.2%.

Where does the growth resilience of the home appliance industry come from? Continuous innovation towards the mid to high end.

Since the beginning of this year, there has been a strong demand for high-end product orders. In the second quarter, online sales of intelligent air purifiers increased by 8.6% year-on-year, mainly contributed by mid to high-end models priced above 3000 yuan. "Introduction by Lu Yi, Product Manager of Xiaomi Environmental Appliances.

At present, China's home appliance market has entered a stage of upgrading with high-end characteristics, "said the relevant person in charge of Hisense Video Technology Co., Ltd.

In the view of Xu Dongsheng, Vice Chairman of the China Home Appliances Association, since the beginning of this year, the trend of structural transformation and upgrading of China's home appliance industry has become more obvious. The supply of high-end products characterized by green intelligence is sufficient and effective, driving the stable and progressive operation of the industry.

Entering the Huawei Ark 1 Space Intelligent Open Laboratory, with a handheld intelligent central control screen, the entire home appliance is interconnected: when watching TV, one click to activate the viewing mode and enjoy immersive audio and video; When sleeping, voice wakes up the AI assistant, remotely controls lights, air conditioning

From smart home appliances to full house intelligence, the growth space of the home appliance industry is constantly expanding. "said Shao Yang, President of Huawei Terminal Co., Ltd.'s full house intelligence product line, relying on the Hongmeng ecosystem to organically connect various smart devices in residential spaces, better meeting people's needs for intelligent living. As of the end of June this year, Huawei has more than 200 nationwide stores with over 5800 smart items that can be connected to the whole house.

Haier has established the "Three Winged Bird" brand for full house intelligent scenarios, and Midea has released the "Midea Meijia" full house intelligent product system... "The collaboration of multiple intelligent products and the integration of stronger intelligent capabilities are making smart home appliances more user-friendly." Xu Dongsheng said that the transformation of full house intelligent capabilities not only brings personalized and customized experiences to users, but also becomes a new engine driving the growth of the home appliance industry.

Drive inventory updates

Improve the application ecosystem

Data shows that from January to June, the sales of household appliances and audiovisual equipment amounted to 427 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 1.0%, down from 3.9% for the entire year last year. The efficiency level of major home appliance enterprises has significantly improved, but there is still room for further expansion of home appliance consumption, "said Xu Dongsheng.

The penetration rate of mature home appliance categories in China is relatively high, and the industry demand is more from inventory updates. "Xu Jianwei, a researcher at the Industry Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics, said that with the continuous improvement of household product durability, the product update cycle is longer. If the new features of the product cannot effectively improve the consumption pain point, the demand for updates and replacements will shrink.

Taking air purifiers as an example, "with the continuous improvement of air quality and stricter control of formaldehyde release from building materials, the demand for formaldehyde removal from products is gradually weakening." Lu Yi said that the company is currently developing more types of gas sensors and filtration technologies, and adding intelligent standby functions to reduce the frequency of filter replacement, thereby reducing usage costs.

More brands are using integration to revitalize traditional home appliance products. The Cassati Nebula air conditioner integrates functions such as air conditioning, humidifiers, purifiers, disinfectors, and air fans, achieving the availability of one unit for all seasons; Hisense integrates an ultrasonic eyewash device on top of its existing products, which can wash clothes as well as glasses and jewelry... "The integration of functions is not just a random combination of household appliances, but a maximum satisfaction of user needs based on specific operating habits in specific scenarios." Xu Dongsheng said that integration is freeing up more growth space for traditional household appliances.

The potential for growth in the home appliance industry lies in the continuous expansion of new product categories, new scenarios, and new applications, "Xu Jianwei said. Currently, intelligent innovation in the home appliance field is active, but different brands of home appliance products lack connectivity or even compatibility in the application ecosystem, becoming a weakness that hinders home appliance consumption.

More and more intelligent devices are available, connecting ecological islands and achieving cross brand connectivity has become an inevitable trend in the development of smart home appliances. The construction of full house intelligence cannot be achieved without the participation of multiple parties such as home appliances, home appliances, communication, internet, and content service providers. "Xu Dongsheng introduced that in June this year, the China Home Appliances Association and the China Communications Standardization Association jointly released the" China Smart Home Interconnection White Paper (2023) ", further promoting the transition of smart home interconnection standards from" existing "to" good ".

Expand high-quality supply

Expand rural markets

Home appliance consumption, as the main field of traditional consumption and an important driving force for restoring and expanding consumption, how to view its growth prospects?

From the perspective of industry trends, the market penetration rate of smart products in major home appliance categories such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines is increasing year by year, "said Xu Dongsheng. According to relevant data, the scale of China's smart home appliance market exceeded 550 billion yuan in 2021, exceeded 650 billion yuan in 2022, and is expected to exceed 730 billion yuan in 2023.

Compared to some developed countries, there is still a gap in the level of ownership of smart home appliances per 100 households in China, and there is ample room to increase its penetration rate. The growth potential and driving force of home appliance consumption are great, "said Xu Jianwei.

Entering the stock market, how can the home appliance industry move from high-speed growth to high-quality development, and better stimulate the potential of home appliance consumption?

On the one hand, continuously expanding high-quality supply and promoting the upgrading and value-added enhancement of smart home appliance products.

With the continuous optimization of the competitive landscape in the home appliance industry and the further increase in industry concentration, driven by leading and innovative enterprises, the proportion of green and intelligent home appliance products has significantly increased, providing solid support for expanding home appliance consumption. Xu Jianwei proposed that in order to adapt to the upgrading of home appliance consumption, precise measures need to be taken in areas such as exchanging old appliances for new ones, promoting intelligent integrated home appliances, and recycling waste home appliances.

Recently, the "Notice on Measures to Restore and Expand Consumption" clearly proposed to promote products such as smart home appliances, integrated home appliances, and functional furniture, and improve the level of smart and green home furnishings. He Yaqiong, Director of the Consumer Products Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated that the next step will be to support the home appliance industry in promoting customized and lean development centered on users, achieving real-time demand response, full process real-time visualization, and seamless resource integration, and continuously launching more scenario oriented, intelligent, and serialized home appliance products.

On the other hand, we will continue to expand the rural market and accelerate the promotion of green smart home appliances to the countryside.

With the continuous improvement of farmers' income and living standards, the rural market is becoming a new growth point to stimulate demand for household appliances. Data shows that in the first five months of this year, the sales of home appliances traded for old and green smart home appliances in rural areas increased by 83.7% and 12.6% year-on-year, respectively. Xu Jianwei proposed to accelerate the construction of multi-level consumption centers, vigorously promote green and intelligent home appliances to the countryside, and better improve the after-sales service system for rural home appliances.