Air conditioning industry suffered a setback? Lack of quality awareness among manufacturers is the internal cause

A new market crisis is gradually approaching the air-conditioning industry, but what many air-conditioning manufacturers did not expect is that this round of market elimination and reshuffle will be initiated by administrative supervision such as product quality spot checks by government functional departments, and it is expected to be launched in 2018. Obviously, this caught many small and medium-sized air-conditioning manufacturers off guard.

Offline air-conditioning market suffered a setback during the National Day Golden Week

According to the normal rhythm, there are two important things for the general public during the National Day holiday. One is that they cannot stop eating, drinking and having fun, and the other is that they cannot miss the great promotions in major shopping malls.

This year is a bit out of the norm. During the eight-day holiday, most people were having fun eating and playing, and of course there were people who spent a lot of money on gifts, but few went shopping in shopping malls. Looking at the friend group, there were either beautiful pictures of eating and drinking, or complaints about spending a lot of money on gifts, but no pictures of buying new products. This is an abnormal state during the long promotion period of National Day.

According to the data compiled by CMM, the retail volume and sales volume of the offline air conditioner market were 3.25 million units and 12.5 billion yuan, respectively, with growth rates of -2.1% and 0.6%, respectively, during the National Day promotion period in 2017. According to the data compiled by CMM, the retail volume and sales volume of the online air conditioner market were 730,000 units and 2.3 billion yuan, respectively, with growth rates of 71.6% and 96.3%, respectively, during the National Day promotion period in 2017.

According to this data, offline sales are indeed better than online sales. However, offline sales are declining, and this situation needs to arouse your vigilance and attention.

To make matters worse, market supervision will continue to be strengthened

After entering October, the market supervision departments in Guangdong and Jiangsu successively released the quality inspection reports of local air conditioner products. The results showed that a large number of newcomers and even speculators who took advantage of the "good year and good weather" to compete in the air conditioner market were included in the blacklist of air conditioner product quality, which cast a shadow on the subsequent market expansion and big business.

The Guangdong Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce reported that the quality inspection results of air conditioners in 2017 showed that 6 air conditioners from 4 brands, namely Pascmio, Dengpai, Meibo and Jinsanyo, failed to meet the quality standards. The main problems involved were: power connection and external soft wire, grounding measures, cooling capacity, cooling power consumption, etc. These are the most basic quality performance of air conditioner products and the lowest entry threshold.

The latest air conditioner product quality spot check results released by Jiangsu Quality Supervision Bureau show that 36 out of 39 batches of products were qualified, and the overall situation is good. However, 3 batches of unqualified products came from e-commerce platforms, involving Shanghai Shenhua Air Conditioner, Chuzhou Jinyangzi Air Conditioner, Shenzhen Jinsanyo Air Conditioner. The unqualified items are generally cooling capacity, cooling power consumption, energy efficiency ratio, heat pump heating power consumption, etc., which are also mistakes that air conditioners should not make.

Through the above two lists, we can see that Jin Sanyang’s products in two provinces are of substandard quality, which fully demonstrates that this company has serious problems in product quality control and may have no quality awareness at all; at the same time, Pascmio air conditioners have been complained by consumers and investigated by industrial and commercial departments in recent years because of counterfeit Panasonic trademarks, but the problem has continued despite repeated bans, making it hard to understand where the problem lies.

As an old brand of Shanghai home appliances, Shenhua has been declining in the market in recent years due to the sluggish market and the poor management of product quality. If it had not been named for substandard quality this time, many consumers would have forgotten this brand of air conditioners. As a company similar to the Yangzi Air Conditioner brand in Chuzhou, and even suspected of "copying the brand" of the latter, it is not surprising that Jinyangzi Air Conditioner has product quality problems. After all, in essence, it hopes to grab a piece of the pie in the market with the help of Yangzi's little influence.

It can be said that behind the substandard quality of the air conditioner products of the above-mentioned brands, there is a common problem, that is, everyone generally lacks quality awareness. Many air conditioner brands do not have their own production factories, but directly look for some small manual workshops to assemble and assemble them. There is a lack of product performance testing and factory inspection. The goal is to minimize the production and manufacturing costs of products and maximize the market operating profit space brought about by this.

Looking ahead to four trends, how should major air-conditioning manufacturers save themselves in the face of difficulties

1. Intelligent wind - "different for different people" air supply

The trend of smart air conditioners is getting stronger and stronger. According to relevant statistics, the penetration rate of smart air conditioners reached 20.1% in 2016, and the penetration rate of smart air conditioners is expected to exceed 30% in 2017. The latest data from the National Information Center also shows that in 2017, the overall share of smart air conditioners in China accounted for 21.85%, a year-on-year increase of 73.24%. Judging from the trends of mainstream air conditioner brands in this new year of refrigeration, smart trends will be the main theme.

2. Clean wind - self-cleaning air conditioner

The issue of air conditioner cleaning has become a hot topic for many users, and air conditioners with self-cleaning functions are even more popular. According to relevant test data, from January to June 2017, the retail volume share of self-cleaning air conditioners in the overall market has reached 7.9%, an increase of 4.2% over the same period last year, more than doubling. In 2018, the new year of refrigeration, smart self-cleaning air conditioners will enter a period of explosive growth.

3. Professional style - air conditioner category segmentation

In the new refrigeration year, the air conditioner category will be further subdivided. For example, there will be exclusive categories such as kitchen air conditioners and bathroom air conditioners, changing the current situation where air conditioners are mostly used in living rooms and bedrooms. In addition, in the field of central air conditioning, different indoor areas will be divided into different areas, with different temperatures, humidity, air supply effects, etc.

4. Design style - air conditioning systematization

With the improvement of system integration capabilities, air conditioners are not just single temperature regulators, but also integrate temperature control, humidity control, air purification and other functions. Especially in terms of air purification, many brands of air conditioners come with LIEP light ion purification function and FPA full purification system, which can remove 99.9% of PM0.3 impurities in the air and absorb formaldehyde, benzene, bacteria and odor in the air.

There is no doubt that through continuous exploration of user needs and innovation in energy-saving, high-efficiency, health, comfort, and intelligence technologies, the re-positioning of air-conditioning products in the new refrigeration year will achieve the upgrading of existing technologies and coverage of industry gaps, and users will enjoy more comfortable air conditioning, and the air-conditioning market will grow and develop further.

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.