Washing machine fought in the high-end market in rural areas

In the first three quarters, air conditioner sales volume and sales growth both fell negative year-on-year; refrigerators' growth in the two above-mentioned indicators was stagnant year-on-year; although it was also inconsistent with the first half of the year, the number of washing machines was higher than the previous two categories. It's so much better. "This is the starting point for the return of white-electricity growth to the normal state," Zhang Yanbin, head of Ovid China, told the China Electronics News. However, when falling from the peak of the growth, the washing machine showed stronger "resistance" than air conditioners and refrigerators.

Steady from the more mature market

The sound performance of the washing machine industry stems from the more mature market development.

"From the current point of view, in the ice wash, washing machines are the least affected by the policy exit effect of home appliances to the countryside." Peng Yi, director of marketing at Zhong Ye Kang said. According to the monitoring data of Zhongyikang, in the third quarter of this year, air conditioner sales volume and sales decreased by 14.8% and 2.5% respectively year-on-year; refrigerator sales volume decreased slightly by 0.4% year-on-year, and sales increased slightly by 0.9% year-on-year; washing machine sales volume increased year-on-year. It increased by 11.3% and sales increased by 9% year-on-year.

He Jiqiong, an analyst at Zhongkang, attributed the growth in the washing machine market to “high-end market growth”, and the “replacement” of drum washing machines for washing machines and the rise of frequency conversion products have stimulated market demand. According to the data from the Yikang monitoring data, from January to September this year, the growth rate of the retail volume of drum washing machines was double that of the pulsator washing machines. The gap between the former and the latter's retail sales also narrowed further; during the same period, the retail sales of the inverter washing machines increased year-on-year. More than 37% are far higher than the overall market gains.

Lu Jianguo, director of the Inspection Department of the National Household Electrical Appliances Quality Supervision and Inspection Center, believes that in the depressed environment, the performance of the washing machine industry has become more mature due to the development of the market. "In the ice wash, the industry standard for washing machines is the most complete." Lu Jianguo said, "From safety performance, to packaging, to recycling, the washing machine industry has a relatively complete set of standards." Today's washing machine market, not only There are 6A standards for energy efficiency standards enforced by the state.

It is understood that in 2009 the state revised the national standard for washing machines, focusing on the "family and similar electric washing machines" and other five new standards for the performance of washing machines, requiring washing machine manufacturers to upgrade the technology. In the same year, the state implemented a new national standard for washing machines, 6 washing machine ratios, noise and other six indicators are divided into A, B, C, D four levels, the test results are all A-level washing machine is 6A.

"In the past few years, no more than 10 domestic companies have reached the 6A standard," Lu Jianguo told reporters. The strict implementation of the standards not only improves the technical entry threshold for the washing machine industry, but also makes the competition more standard.

High growth is difficult to continue

The slow growth of the washing machine in the future will be the norm, but it will go more smoothly.

The slowdown in the growth rate of washing machines revealed signs in the first quarter: Both the sales volume and the growth rate of sales have decreased significantly year-on-year. According to Zhong Yikang's data, the growth rate of domestic washing machine retail sales and retail sales in the first quarter of 2011 was 7.0% and 7.7% respectively, which was far below the 32.1% and 42.4% of the same period of last year.

The overall slowdown in the washing machine industry is also reflected in the product structure. Cai Ying, Assistant Director of the Information Resource Development Department of the National Information Center, revealed that in the first half of 2011, the market sales volume of automatic drum washing machines and fully automatic washing machines had a different degree of correction.

An analyst who is unwilling to be named told reporters that the profitability of the listed companies in the washing machine industry has experienced a certain degree of decline in the third quarter.

In his view, the decline in the sales volume of the washing machine market was primarily due to the tightening of the domestic economic environment this year, the increase in inflationary pressure, the tightening of banks’ monetary assets, and other factors that have led to the suppression of investment intensity and the decline in consumer spending. Followed by the decline in real estate turnover. "However, the magnitude of the fall was lower than previously expected," he said.

Given the rapid increase in the popularity of primary and secondary cities and the poor external environment, Cai Ying believes that the slowdown in the growth rate of washing machines is in line with market rules. The above analysts further pointed out that such rapid growth as in the previous two years is hard to reproduce. In this regard, Peng Yu agreed that he expects that the growth rate of the washing machine industry in 2011 will fall to single digits and will be lower next year.

Lu Jianguo admitted that the low-speed growth of the washing machine in the future will be the norm, but it will go more smoothly, “the problem of annual growth of 10% is not significant”. First, washing machines are relatively less affected by the withdrawal of policies. At present, the household ownership rate of rural household washing machines is only 50%, and the market potential has not yet been fully stimulated. The second is that compared to air conditioners and refrigerators, the function of washing machines is updated more quickly, and selling points can be continuously manufactured. At the same time, the use cycle of washing machines is short, and the consumer demand stimulated by upgrading is not negligible.

Rural market is the next "Blue Ocean"

The high-end washing machines in the third and fourth-tier markets will be the potential commanding heights for corporate competition.

The ultra-growth of the washing machine market over the past two years was mainly due to the fact that companies actively followed up on national industrial policies. The policy dividend gradually withdrew, and after entering a rational growth path, did the washing machine still have blue ocean?

The answer is yes. Lu Jianguo told reporters that high-end washing machines in the third and fourth-tier markets will be the commanding heights of corporate competition. With the increase of farmers' income, the tertiary and tertiary markets mean that the “low end” has become the past.

Cai Ying said that the performance of the next three or four cities will affect the growth rate of high-end washing machines. This trend has already emerged. Statistics from the National Information Center show that the third and fourth-tier cities’ washing machines market has completely different product structure changes from the overall market: In the first half of 2011, the third-tier cities saw an increase of 24.53% in the high-end washing machine market. The increase was 48.27%; while the growth rates of the primary and secondary markets in the same period were only single digits, which were 3.54% and 5.87% respectively. The above analysts also pointed out that when the market demand is declining, high-end corporate positioning is also conducive to maintaining a higher growth rate than the industry and a more stable level of gross margin.

Not only that, the price freeze that was once a major obstacle to the development of high-end washing machines is being broken. According to GfK's monitoring data, the price of drum washing machines has continued to decline this year. In the first half of the year, the average price of drum washing machines fell by 300 yuan, a drop of 8%, and the average price of Washing Machines dropped by 48 yuan year-on-year, a decrease of only 3%. In this regard, Lu Jianguo stressed that prices will be a powerful weapon for competition in the third and fourth markets in a short period of time, but as the price difference between the roller and the pulsator continues to shrink, its power will become smaller and smaller.

Reporter's comment With the growth of the washing machine industry moving down to the third and fourth-tier markets, channels will become important resources for companies. At present, the major washing machine companies choose to use their own channels for sales, after the "last mile", for example, as of June this year, the United States has tens of thousands of sales terminals in the country, which gives the US Department of products to improve the third and fourth markets The layout provides strong support. At the same time, the market share vacated by small and medium-sized brands without channel layout is likely to be occupied by the industry leader. It can be expected that in the future, in the third and fourth-tier markets, companies with channel advantages and brand advantages will become the biggest winners.