Is the popularity of shared water purifiers real sharing or fake leasing?

Recently, shared water purifiers have become popular. How are water purifiers shared? Is it "real" sharing or "fake" leasing, or is it just to take advantage of the "east wind" of sharing? What will be the next "sharing outlet"? Some industry insiders said that shared water purifiers are in line with the current market trend, and the development of shared water purifiers may increase in the future. However, some relevant people also said that there is a phenomenon in the market that the name of "sharing" is actually a disguised installment payment.

Recently, reporters have discovered that there is a lot of publicity about "shared water purifiers" on the Internet. After a series of "sharing economy" promotions, has "sharing" become a means of "putting old wine in new bottles" for old industries?

The reporter contacted several shared water purifier companies as a consumer. The person in charge of a shared water purifier company said that compared with most water purifiers in the past, users still need to make subsequent capital investments such as filter cartridge replacement, maintenance, and upgrades after purchasing the water purifier. Shared water purifiers break the traditional form of users purchasing equipment ownership and use, and instead adopt an innovative consumption method in which users do not have ownership of the equipment and pay service fees based on the amount of purified water used and the time of use. He said that users only need to pay the service fee, and the water purifier company is responsible for the provision of equipment and all services such as on-site installation, cartridge replacement, and daily maintenance.

Industry insiders said that water purifiers have been developed in China for more than ten years, and as far as the industry itself is concerned, a relatively mature industrial chain system has been formed. However, from the market perspective, there are still problems such as many brands, large price differences, and uneven quality of water purifiers.

The reporter searched for household water purifiers on a shopping website and found results ranging from faucet filters costing hundreds of yuan to high-end water purifiers costing tens of thousands of yuan. The top ten best-selling products on the shopping website were all priced under 200 yuan, and more than half were priced between 50 and 150 yuan.

The main function of a water purifier is to purify harmful substances and impurities in water. The industry insider said that water purifier products have similar characteristics. As long as the same purification technology is used, the water quality of products costing 2,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan will not differ much.

Opinion PK:

Viewpoint 1: Intelligent products are in line with market trends

In the eyes of these merchants, the reason why they are called "shared water purifiers" is that they save money for users: "Take the common five-stage RO reverse osmosis water purifier as an example. The price of the equipment is generally between 1,500 yuan and 3,000 yuan. Some international brands are even higher. In the later period, the filter element replacement fee will be between 500 yuan and 1,000 yuan per year. If the user uses it for three years, the overall expenditure will be about 3,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan."

It is understood that the charging standard for the smart shared water purifier is a deposit of 500 yuan and a monthly service fee of 80 yuan. The total expenditure for three years is 2,880 yuan. If the three-year fee is paid in one lump sum, the discount is reduced to 2,400 yuan.

In addition, shared water purifier products will use Internet of Things technology to realize the intelligence of water purifiers. Users can check the water quality and the service life of each filter element at any time through their mobile phones, and can also renew online and make online reservations. The industry insider said that from the above perspectives, intelligent and shared water purifier products are more in line with the current market trend.

Viewpoint 2: Shared water purifiers are skirting the law

However, some users have expressed doubts about the sharing of water purifiers, wondering whether the water purifiers they paid for have been used by others, and how to ensure the quality and hygiene. Where do the used water purifiers go?

A company promoting shared water purifiers said that the water purifiers currently installed by users are all brand new. The water purifiers use 2G modules for remote expansion functions and can be bound to the user's mobile phone through the QR code on the product. The person in charge of the company said that this QR code can be used to determine whether the machine has been used, and shared water purifiers that are no longer used by users will be collected and left for other users to use when they need to replace their machines.

Some industry insiders believe that this makes people feel that the so-called "shared water purifier" is actually skirting the "sharing" edge ball. After paying for 3 years, owning a water purifier is actually a disguised installment payment.

Xiao Yi, a professor at Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, said that the essence of sharing is that you don’t need to own an item, but you can use it. “Sharing items is more about putting it back into the public space after use, so that others can use it when they need it.” Xiao Yi said that owning a water purifier after paying for three years of service is more like a form of installment payment.

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.