The air conditioning industry must return to its starting point if it wants to continue to rise

Faced with the continuous surge in the past two years, if air conditioner manufacturers want to continue to rise in the future, they cannot just rely on external high temperature weather to drive growth, but also need to establish new driving capabilities such as internal products and technologies. This has been the biggest shortcoming of air conditioner manufacturers in the past few years, and it is also the starting point that they must return to in the future.

A new turning point is in front of all air conditioner manufacturers. No matter how many companies and capitals see how rich the commercial cake and cheese hidden in the air conditioner market are, no one can ignore the core. The biggest driving force for the healthy and sustainable development and growth of the industry and market is not high temperature weather, but technology and products. This is not only the core driving force for the development of enterprises, but also the key for the air conditioner industry to get rid of "weather dependence".

As the saying goes, the quick-selling of carrots is not to be washed. In the past two cold years, the air-conditioning market has ushered in a round of hot sales and skyrocketing prices driven by the continued high temperature weather. Even a large number of small and micro brands and copycat speculators have made a lot of money. However, the industry's weaknesses and shortcomings hidden behind the hot sales of the air-conditioning market cannot be ignored or avoided.

In the past two years, although a series of hot-selling and popular air conditioner models have been out of stock, it cannot be concluded that the air conditioner market is extremely hot. As long as they can be produced, they will not have to worry about not being able to sell. In fact, in the past cold year of 2017, although many air conditioner manufacturers encountered the problem of "out of stock", these were only a large number of low-end, special-priced, and popular models, and they were not unable to be produced. It's just that air conditioner manufacturers consciously opened up supply to e-commerce channels, but restricted offline physical channels.

Behind many air conditioner manufacturers' complaints about "out of stock" is not a problem of production capacity, nor is it a problem of too strong a market or too hot a demand. Instead, many air conditioner manufacturers have taken the initiative to transform their channel management structure and product management system, pushing best-selling models and low-priced products online, and then guiding offline physical channels to promote and sell mid-to-high-end models. Behind the hot air conditioner market this year, in fact, a large number of mid-to-high-end products are not as popular as the outside world imagines.

The outside world only sees the hot sales in the air-conditioning market, and even some best-selling models are out of stock, but ignores the fact that the explosion of a large number of mid-to-high-end products in offline channels has not met expectations, and cheap fixed-speed machines and high-energy consumption products are still slow to withdraw; at the same time, the technological innovation of the entire air-conditioning product has basically entered a period of stagnation in recent years, and variable frequency, energy saving, health, and intelligence are all repeated concepts; in addition, the air-conditioning manufacturers' de-weathering and self-driven promotion system has not yet been perfected and established, and relying on the weather for a living has become a kind of glory.

Behind this series of shortcomings, some manufacturers in the air-conditioning industry are just blinded by the popularity and hot sales. Behind this is the promotion of high-end and new products. On the one hand, the product functions and technological innovations have not met expectations; on the other hand, the relevant manufacturers have not yet established a high-quality promotion system for user needs. For example, Gree, the industry leader, still dominates with its three-level low-efficiency fixed-speed air conditioners.

In recent years, the popularity of frequency conversion has entered the later stage, healthy energy saving has long been normalized, and intelligence has also lacked new highlights. The old has not gone, and the new has not come. How to create new growth momentum in the air-conditioning market that has been deadlocked, activate user needs, and prepare for the market growth momentum system after the high temperature weather. For many air-conditioning manufacturers, it is still an unsolved mystery.

In the air-conditioning industry, many manufacturers have fallen into a round of development misunderstandings: the hot market does not mean that there is no need to strengthen product innovation, and hot weather does not mean that there is no need to find a new way to "destock marketing". In the next 2-3 years, if air-conditioning manufacturers do not continue to seize the last opportunity and focus on new product innovation and user demand breakthroughs, then the higher the rise today, the more severe the fall tomorrow!

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.