Shared air conditioners: home appliance sharing is either a narrow alley or a dead end

Shared washing machines and shared televisions have not yet come onto the market, and shared air conditioners are stirring up trouble. Is the currently popular "sharing economy" really a big basket that "can hold anything" for home appliance companies?

The answer is no. Unlike bicycles, cars, power banks and other products, the characteristics of air conditioners and their use in the home fundamentally determine that they are not suitable for direct application of the sharing model. In addition, they are constrained by complex product installation services, many safety hazards, product health and other issues. Shared air conditioners will eventually be "short-lived" and become the first bubble to burst in the sharing bubble.

Recently, a domestic brand that is outside the mainstream market of the air conditioner industry launched its first "shared air conditioner", which has been controversial and received mixed reviews since its launch. Some people believe that "it will explode with the rental market" and has huge market potential, while others question whether it is "forcibly labeled as shared" and cannot support the market-oriented commercial explosion.

In essence, the sharing economy weakens ownership and strengthens usage rights to a certain extent. Products such as bicycles and cars can fragment usage rights, which can maximize resource utilization while meeting random needs in public places. However, home appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions are mostly private and fixed for families, and ownership and usage rights are highly overlapped, making it difficult for them to become a popular consumption method.

On the one hand, the product attributes determine that the road of shared air conditioners is difficult to expand. The core function of air conditioners is air conditioning, which is mainly fixed in the family for private use. It is difficult to meet the requirements of fast circulation and high mobility of the sharing economy. This fundamentally limits the viral expansion and explosion of shared air conditioners, and it is difficult to jump out of the "pit" of niche.

On the other hand, the characteristics of the industry directly extinguished the fire of air-conditioning sharing. "30% purchase, 70% installation" shows the special requirements of air-conditioning for after-sales installation and service. During each relocation process, the "disassembly + installation" process is difficult and intensive. The slightest carelessness will bring safety hazards to professional installers and users. In addition, the mature industry model, the market segmentation between off-season and peak season, the instability of the installation team and other factors restrict shared air-conditioning from becoming the mainstream of the industry.

From another perspective, shared air conditioners do not solve the core needs of current mainstream users. Once the weather is extremely hot, air conditioners are purchased and used in a concentrated manner. The low startup rate is not a favorable condition for shared air conditioners, but a disadvantageous factor. In other words, when people are using air conditioners, who has idle air conditioners to "share" with others? At the same time, air conditioners that have been used many times are prone to breed various bacteria in parts such as filters, and health risks increase sharply. Furthermore, air conditioners have distinct off-seasons and peak seasons, which leads to the value of air conditioners sold being much higher than those rented out.

Of course, shared air conditioners can apparently meet the needs of some rental houses, street shops and other businesses. But these are niche markets after all, and it is difficult to achieve a big climate.

Ultimately, the market is the touchstone of a product or model. To be more precise, the current air-conditioning industry has entered a mature and stable growth period. For the unfamiliar new model of sharing, no mainstream brand has followed suit. Instead, some unknown brands in the industry are eager to take the lead and break through, which is actually "taking an unconventional approach" and openly hyping.

A careful analysis shows that shared air conditioners are not shared in essence, but rather leased by factories to single users. The concept of "shared air conditioners" is used to hype up brands and attract attention, with the intention of making a dent in the hot air conditioner market. They do not hope to truly expand the shared air conditioner market.

At present, the sharing economy active in the home appliance industry has not yet taken off the hat of "bubble economy", but if shared air conditioners can find their correct positioning, improve products and operations in the daily and monthly rental markets for low- and middle-end people before being crushed, and transform the sharing economy into a "trial economy" and switch from renting to selling, there may be a glimmer of hope. Of course, this cannot fundamentally change the fact that shared home appliances are a narrow alley or a dead end.

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.