Are the hard days of the color TV industry coming to an end?

On November 22, along with the release of the 2016 semi-annual report by Skyworth Group, all black appliance companies have released their semi-annual reports. From the performance point of view, the overall situation of the entire black appliance industry has improved compared with 2015, but we should not be overly optimistic or overly pessimistic, because good news is on the way despite the difficulties.

We should not be overly optimistic because there are almost no color TV industry reports showing both an increase in revenue and profits in their semi-annual reports.

Skyworth's revenue increased but its profit decreased; Hisense's revenue decreased but its profit increased; TCL Multimedia's revenue and profit both decreased; Changhong's revenue decreased but its profit increased; Konka's revenue decreased but its profit increased.

From the semi-annual report data, it can be seen that among the five major color TV manufacturers in China, only Skyworth's revenue increased, which shows that the overall sales of TVs in 2016 were not very good and the capacity of the entire market was shrinking.

Let’s first look at the revenue of the top five manufacturers

Skyworth's turnover was HK$20.291 billion, up 3.8% year-on-year, Changhong's TV revenue was 6.24 billion yuan, down 20.51% year-on-year, Hisense's was 11.92 billion yuan, down 7.66% year-on-year, Konka Group achieved a total operating income of 8.609 billion yuan, down 3.75% year-on-year, and TCL Multimedia's turnover was 11.97 billion yuan, down 1.63% year-on-year.

Let’s look at the profits of the top five manufacturers

Skyworth Digital's net profit attributable to the parent company was HK$836 million, down 3.8% year-on-year; Hisense's net profit was RMB 741 million, up 18.53% year-on-year; Changhong and Konka reversed last year's huge losses. Changhong's net profit attributable to listed shareholders was RMB 460 million, up 695.33% year-on-year; Konka's was RMB 12.8347 million, up 104.32% year-on-year.

Judging from the profit data alone, compared with last year's collective decline and majority losses, it seems that the continuously sluggish color TV performance has hit bottom and has shown signs of a brief recovery this year.

In 2015, Changhong suffered a loss of 1.976 billion yuan and Konka suffered a loss of 1.257 billion yuan. In the first half of 2016, both companies achieved their profit targets.

However, some industry insiders pointed out that the boost to Changhong and Konka's performance in the first half of the year came more from non-recurring gains and losses, including the disposal of non-current assets, government subsidies, investments, etc. The financial report shows that Changhong's net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was 170 million yuan, while Konka was still in a loss after deducting non-recurring gains and losses.
Where will the color TV industry go in 2017?

In any case, all major color TV manufacturers have survived the most difficult years of 2015 and 2016, and the home appliance industry is slowly recovering.

Especially for the color TV industry, there are two major positives. One is the recent crazy TV price increase. Although the reason for this price increase is the sharp increase in screen prices, it is better than holding on to it.

Second, a wave of renewal and replacement is about to come.

The first generation of LCD TVs were widely popularized between 2005 and 2008, which is about 10 years ago. Generally, the service life of LCD TVs is 10-15 years, and the earliest ones purchased in 2017 will reach the end of their service life. Even if they can still be used, compared with the current technological updates, the products at that time should indeed be upgraded.

In addition, these consumers are elites in first- and second-tier cities, and their spending power is relatively strong, so the upgrade should be positioned at high-end products. When this wave of replacement comes, our manufacturers should do a good job of after-sales service. We should not just talk about service. Didn't we have user information when we sold it? At this critical moment, why can't we care more about these users? Listen to their opinions and do some interactive activities with them. The right way is to retain these old customers and then develop new customers for growth.

Therefore, in 2017 we must free ourselves from the practice of going to the countryside and focus our energy on the primary and secondary markets. The only way out is to position ourselves for upgrading and upgrading and for high-end markets!

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.