Why can’t Airmate become the “small appliance version” of Gree?
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According to the market penetration rate of small household appliances in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, and Japan, although the domestic small household appliance market is growing rapidly, it only accounts for 13% of the entire household appliance market. Although China's small household appliance market is in the stage of concentrated exploration and explosion of market potential, a fact that cannot be ignored is that in the general public consumption of small household appliances, a giant brand development pattern has been formed, such as Midea, Philips, Joyoung, Supor, etc. In the future, in the small home appliance market, more brands may only be able to enter from the niche or segmented market, but the share will only become thinner and thinner. The old brands in the small home appliance industry still have not made much progress, and the innovation in product categories is not active enough. For example, Airmate, which has been engaged in home appliances for decades, still makes traditional home appliances such as electric fans and electric heaters, which are gradually being squeezed out by air conditioners. Wang Tianjin, an analyst at the Air Conditioning and Environmental Division of Aowei Consulting, analyzed: "With the improvement of living standards, more and more consumers are more willing to spend on air conditioners at one time." Moreover, in recent years, the "new" fans launched by Panasonic, Dyson, Balmuda and other manufacturers have also been popular among consumers due to factors such as intelligence, humanized blowing and outstanding design. The entry of many manufacturers into the field of smart fans is also squeezing out the market share of former professional-grade electric fan brands. The category of small household appliances is expanding rapidly, catching up with the popularity of small household appliances in Europe and the United States. Previously, the electric fan market was squeezed by the impact of the air-conditioning market. The fan development path of foreign home appliance companies has provided these companies with a new way out, that is, high-end, intelligent, functional, adding product design and technological elements to increase the product use value of electric fans. In the high-end electric fan market, comprehensive home appliance giant Midea has reduced the types of fan products from more than 100 to more than 40, but the domestic market share has not decreased but increased, from 34% to 45%, which means that the company's market share in the high-end market has far exceeded 45%. In April this year, a total of 90 electric fan companies in Nanhai, Foshan, applied for a collective trademark in an attempt to develop in a group. It is understood that the electric fan production in this area accounts for 40% to 50% of the national electric fan market. Although Airmate has a certain share in the electric fan market, according to data, the scale of the electric fan industry has shrunk year by year in recent years. In 2015, the domestic electric fan retail volume fell by 5.5% year-on-year, and the retail sales fell by 7.9% year-on-year. In 2016, the Chinese air conditioner retail market achieved sales of 47.79 million units, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, and retail sales of 160.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%. Since the rise of air conditioners, electric fans have been marginalized and even considered a "sunset industry." The shrinking market size will inevitably lead to more intense competition in the electric fan industry. Relying solely on electric fans and other industries as pillar industries is obviously risky. Professional home appliance companies are no longer suitable for the current market transformation context and consumption scenarios. Only by relying on the advantages of single products to reach the level of Gree air conditioners can they build their own moats, otherwise the constant market competition will overturn the ballast stone of victory. In the context of lacking sufficient technical and product differentiation and innovation capabilities, from now on, professional home appliance companies and merchants are facing the fate of being constantly eroded, squeezed and snatched by diversified companies. Even air conditioning giants such as Gree and color TV giants such as Skyworth have been accelerating diversified expansion in recent years, which is also bearish on the business prospects and market opportunities of specialization. The giants who have achieved multi-category diversified layout at the first level and have also made some achievements on the road to internationalization are still constantly exploring new areas. In addition, the cross-border of Internet companies such as Xiaomi and the competition of foreign home appliance giants have led to the emergence of giants in the small home appliance market. On the single-plank bridge of "thousands of troops" squeezing diversification in the home appliance industry, it is no longer suitable for the current context to rely solely on electric fans, electric heaters, electric kettles, etc. to become bigger and stronger. In April this year, the Dyson air purifier fan with three functions of cooling, heating, purification and intelligence came into people's sight. This smart fan, which is called black technology by everyone, has attracted widespread attention since its launch. The most important thing is that it can automatically monitor the indoor air quality, adjust the purification speed according to the purification target, and keep the room temperature at the target temperature set by the user. This is the case with the Qingyu smart fan released by Midea last year. It can complete intelligent linkage with air conditioners and other equipment, issue instructions to each other, and arrange for the other party to turn on or off, eliminating manual operation. Take Japan's Morita, which is a OEM for Panasonic and Sharp, as an example. It recently launched a super silent electric fan in the domestic market. It is intelligent and has natural wind and "human wind" functions. If it is detected by infrared sensing that there is no one in the 90-degree range in front, it will automatically stop for 5 minutes and automatically start when someone is there. In contrast, the Airmate electric fan that uses Siri to operate the fan is relatively weak, and it also limits users to Apple users. Relying on smartphones or apps to indirectly complete the intelligent application of electrical appliances is exiting the market. Electrical appliances are facing the test of artificial intelligence on their own, that is, getting rid of dependence on mobile phones and relying on automatic adjustment and deep learning to complete instructions. In addition, not all home appliances need voice control. Intelligence is needed to complete tasks that are difficult for humans to complete, rather than making people lazier. After all, life lies in exercise. The fresh air system launched by Airmate is also in the context of the entire fresh air market becoming a hot spot for environmental protection industry consumption. Currently, there are many brands entering the fresh air market, most of which are professional air solution manufacturers and air conditioning companies. This will be another fierce competition. According to the ranking, Airmate is only ranked eighth. Founded in Taiwan in 1973, Airmate has a history of 44 years. Although the company has accumulated many years of air solutions, it has not entered the huge market of air conditioners. It still remains in the six major categories of electric fans, electric heaters, air purifiers, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, and fresh air systems. In the industry, its major categories have their own leading companies or brands. Generally speaking, the former does not have an absolute advantage in winning the competition in the home appliance market except for the scale and market accumulated over the years. In addition to using the fresh air system accumulated over the years to enter the huge fresh air market, Airmate has not taken any further actions to find an option or alternative with advantages. According to public information, the company specializes in the production of electric fans, electric heaters, ventilators, induction cookers, electric kettles and other series of exquisite small appliances, and its products are at the top level in various fields. Only a few categories are no longer suitable for the current market situation. Small appliances must constantly renew and refresh categories and technical content to survive. As the brands in the small home appliance industry are becoming more and more concentrated, large home appliances and kitchen appliances are also involved, and small home appliances are not having an easy time. The fresh air that Airmate is involved in has not completely opened up the market scale, at least among the thousands of brands entering the fresh air market, it has not brought about an expansion of the market scale. Although the participants in the fresh air industry have exploded from dozens of brands to nearly a thousand brands, the market scale is still fluctuating around billions, and under fierce competition, instability is unsustainable. Moreover, many large electrical companies have not really focused on the expansion of fresh air, water purification and air purification, but more on product layout and market observation. The exaggerated elements of the fresh air system have not won more stops, and air-conditioning companies have more dominant advantages and brand strength in fresh air. Behind the current prosperity of the small home appliance market is fierce brand competition. The small home appliance market is undergoing continuous reshuffle and elimination. The market space for small home appliances is still large, with low concentration, and therefore it is more vulnerable to the snatch of cross-border brands and the impact of the rise of emerging brands. Being replaced is also the norm in market competition. Only by continuously expanding the capacity of more abundant categories, strengthening R&D and innovation, and becoming bigger and stronger can we have a certain ability to resist risks, so as not to fall behind in the market reshuffle. As traditional household appliances, electric fans have attracted a group of predators with the advent of intelligence. The fresh air market is still in an unstable opening stage. Among the various categories that Airmate is involved in, the outside world has not seen a winning category that can cope with the impact and predation of other brands. The market will only bring the Matthew effect to the extreme, and brands will become more concentrated, and superior resources and shares will be continuously absorbed and monopolized by individual oligarchs. As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity. |
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