"It is a miracle in itself that the air-conditioning industry can continue to grow at a historical high in the cold years of 2017," said Wang Lei, vice chairman of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.
According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, the output of air conditioners from January to June this year was 110 million units, a year-on-year increase of 14.45%. Last year, the production and sales of air conditioners hit a record high, and this year it still set a record high, becoming a standout in the home appliance industry. . On August 22, the "2018-2019 China Air-Conditioning Industry Summit Forum" was held as scheduled. A large number of industry leaders gathered in Beijing to "take the pulse" for the development of the industry.
In the environment of increasingly fierce market competition, in addition to meeting consumer demand in product functions, the competition among brands in the air-conditioning industry has become increasingly important decisive battlefields for technology, service, and quality. And often the strength of the company determines the quality of the product, and the air-conditioning industry is no exception. In the first half of this year, the brands of air-conditioning companies are highly concentrated, with leading companies occupying a large share and becoming the industry leader.
According to data from the National Information Center, the concentration of brands in key cities is clearly at a high level of concentration. The market share of TOP3 brands has increased by 6 percentage points from 74.22% in the cold year of 2017 to 80.44%. Director Cai Ying, a senior industry expert from the National Information Center, analyzed, “The high concentration of brands in key cities indicates that the market control capabilities of relevant brands have been significantly improved, and the possible impact is the increase in market thresholds.â€
For example, smart air conditioners reflect this development trend. In smart air conditioners, except for Haier, the remaining two brands and Haier combined basically exceed 88% or even reach 93%. This is a very obvious feature. The high concentration of brands in the entire air-conditioning industry also directly affects users' choices.
It is understood that the "White Paper on Intelligent Self-cleaning Air Conditioning Industry" of the province of China's air-conditioning industry shows that Haier's market sales of intelligent self-cleaning air-conditioning products have reached 70%. This is only last year's data, and if it is put into this year, the proportion will only increase. According to data from Zhongyikang, Haier air conditioners increased by 33.2% in the first quarter of 2018, ranking first in the industry. Moreover, Haier air conditioners of the entire product line have realized the popularization and application of self-cleaning technology, becoming the best choice for users to purchase air conditioners.
"Relying on the sky for food" still works as a "catalyst" for market developmentThree years ago, the air-conditioning industry was still immersed in the downturn of high inventory and high pressure. Beginning in 2016, the situation suddenly became darker. The “hot barbecue†weather across the country has brought life-saving straw for air-conditioning companies. Until this year, the temperature has remained high, market sales have continued to grow, and life is going well.
Obviously, the advantages brought by "relying on the sky" have become the "catalyst" for market development. According to data from the National Information Center, the retail scale of air conditioners in the domestic market in the cold year of 2018 was 65.53 million units, a year-on-year increase of 16.56%. Wang Lei said, “In contrast, in the cold year of 2018, although the growth rate has slowed down (a year-on-year growth of 28.5% last year), this is not important anymore. We should explore more about what factors are supporting it. With the growth of the air-conditioning market in recent years, will this high-level scale be the norm in the future?"
Cai Ying said that in the main theme of "growth", there are many "small notes" in the market this year. These include the strong performance of the four-tier market, the deepening of product structure adjustments, and the improvement of industry innovation. These factors have an impact on the industry. The contribution of growth is very obvious.
Taking advantage of the general trend of consumption upgrades, air-conditioning companies have upgraded the quality of air-conditioning and focused on the high-end market. In the first quarter of 2018, the average retail price was 4,486 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.70%, ranking first among domestic brands. Haier’s success stems from continuous product innovation. Less than three years after the launch of the “self-cleaning+†product, its sales volume has exceeded 10 million units, becoming an industry benchmark leading the development of the market.
Regarding whether you can continue to watch God’s face and eat in the cold year of 2019, industry insiders believe that if there are extreme weather phenomena under the dual pressure of inventory and capacity release, it is not ruled that a new round of price competition may occur in the cold year of 2019. The emergence of brand elimination.
Inventory pressure still exists. How to deal with it rationally in 2019?In the context of the steady growth of the air-conditioning industry, the market plan for the cold year of 2019 has begun to lay out, but as mentioned above, although the market is still growing, the growth rate is obviously slowing down, and there is also certain pressure on inventory.
According to cold-year data from industry online monitoring, shipments have reached 97 million units, an increase of 16 million units from last year's inventory. At present, the inventory pressure of the entire industry does exist. In addition, judging from the production scheduling data in July and August, companies have already begun to actively make some adjustments. Therefore, the overall judgment of the industry is that there will be some adjustments at least from the industry’s shipping end in the cold year of 2019, and there will be some adjustments in the cold year of 2019. Need to be treated rationally.
The first step is to lay out the market and channels. According to data, the third and fourth tier markets are an important basis for the overall market scale improvement this year. Among them, the proportion of the third tier market has increased from 11.75% in the last cold year to 12.38%. The proportion of the secondary market increased by nearly 4 percentage points from 11.86% in the last cold year to 14.22%, which contributed a lot to the growth of the overall market.
In the channel business, this year’s e-commerce channel performed well. Take JD.com. In the first half of 2018, the sales volume of JD.com platform reached 7.27 million units, accounting for 62% of the online sales and 22% of the total. The sales of JD’s platform air-conditioning reached 18.6 billion yuan, accounting for 53% of the online market and 16% of the total. Although the growth rate of e-commerce platforms has slowed down overall, as some air-conditioning brands increase their penetration in e-commerce channels, e-commerce platforms have become a factor that cannot be ignored in the channel strategy of air-conditioning brands.
Secondly, pay attention to market development and rationally lay out product lines. As we all know, the current is a major trend of consumption upgrades. High-end development has become the main direction of self-evident. However, due to the recent events of Pinduoduo, new opportunities have also been revealed. The low-end market cannot be ignored as an excellent air conditioner. Enterprises should not only lead the way in the high-end market, but also the low-end market should be fully popularized, to do a good job of word-of-mouth, and the brand to be in the hearts of the people.
Take Haier as an example. In the high-end market, there is not only a high-end brand such as Casarte, which is well-known overseas. In the fourth and fifth-tier cities in China, Haier's products have already flown into the homes of ordinary people and become the first-class people talked about. Brand.
Finally, we must prepare with both hands. How should air-conditioning companies take care of themselves when they cannot "rely on the sky for food"? The editor believes that we still have to work hard on products. Technology is the primary productive force. People's demand for air conditioners is no longer as simple as taking a cool place. The demand for health is more critical, because everyone can make air conditioners, but not all can make healthy ones. Air conditioning, working hard on health is the only way for companies to save themselves.
Write at the endAlthough the air-conditioning market has continued to grow for three years, the industry has a promising development prospect, but the awareness of being prepared for danger in times of peace is indispensable. What's more, the steady growth in the cold year of 2018 may cause early consumption, resulting in a decline in purchasing power in the cold year of 2019 and increased pressure, making it difficult for companies to consume high inventories. However, the editor believes that companies with R&D strength, strategic layout, and clear development ideas will surely become the guiding lights for industry development and carry forward the "Made in China" business card.
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