Year-round refrigerator sales or decline

In the first half of 2013, the refrigerator industry finally ushered in a slow recovery. In the first quarter, the volume of retail sales and retail sales of refrigerators increased by 24.74% and 33.38% respectively year-on-year. However, due to factors such as the withdrawal of energy-saving subsidies, the refrigerator market is still unsatisfactory for the year. At the same time, with the increasing popularity of high-end products in the refrigerator industry and the implementation of safety and performance standards for refrigerators in the second half of the year, Chinese and foreign brands will face increasing competition in the refrigerator market where growth is limited.

Unpredictable trend throughout the year

In the first half of the year, the refrigerator market increased slightly compared to the same period in 2012. In the second half of the year, due to the exit of the energy-saving subsidy policy, the retail sales of the whole year fell slightly.

In 2012, the domestic refrigerator industry saw a significant drop. In the first quarter of 2013, the industry achieved a bottoming-out rebound, and the increase in product production and sales increased the refrigerator industry's potential to ease. Industry online data showed that in April 2013, the output of refrigerators was 7.725 million units, down 2.2% month-on-month and 11.3% year-on-year. Sales and shipments totaled 7.684 million units, down 4% month-on-month and 6.9% year-on-year. At the same time, Sino-Iceon data showed that from January to March, the retail volume and retail sales of the refrigerator market increased by 24.74% and 33.38% respectively year-on-year.

In this regard, Cai Ying, Assistant Director of the Information Resource Development Department of the National Information Center, pointed out that the reason why the refrigerator industry could achieve recovery growth in the first quarter was mainly due to the overall improvement in the macroeconomic level, the effect of energy-saving projects, and the company’s holiday season. Promotion of promotional activities and other factors to promote. Despite this, GfK analyst Zhang Xiaoli told the China Electronics News reporter that due to the fact that many domestic and foreign institutions have lowered their GDP forecasts in China, the overall trend of the refrigerator market is still not optimistic. He believes that the refrigerator market has slightly increased in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period in 2012; in the second half of the year, the retail sales of refrigerators will decline slightly due to the withdrawal of energy-saving subsidies. At the same time, under the influence of favorable factors such as upgrading of consumer demand and transformation of industrial structure, high-end refrigerators with three or more high-end refrigerators will maintain a good momentum of development, and the average price of products will continue to increase. In 2013, the retail sales of the refrigerator market will increase slightly.

The revision of the safety and performance standards of the refrigerator industry, which has attracted much attention from the industry, will also have a direct impact on the refrigerator market. In an interview, the reporter learned that after the above two standards are implemented, higher requirements will be put on the production enterprises, which will help promote the development of leading technology products in the market and further promote the upgrading of the industry. Under the trend of easing consumption, it is expected that the proportion of frequency conversion products in the high-end market will increase.

In terms of refrigerator exports, statistics from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products show that from January to May, China’s exports of refrigerators (including refrigerators) were US$2 billion, an increase of 6.2% year-on-year, and exports were 14.409 million, a year-on-year increase. 5.5%. For the year's export trend, Zhou Nan, deputy secretary-general of the Household Electrical Appliances Subcommittee of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, said that he was not optimistic. He said that despite the year-on-year increase in refrigerator exports from January to May, due to objective factors, the rebound will gradually weaken. The annual refrigerator export scale will be basically the same as last year. Even if there is a small increase, the increase will not exceed 5%.

Chinese and foreign brands "negative"

The adjustment of the brand structure of the refrigerator market will continue, and the confrontation between the Chinese and foreign brands “necessary” will gradually become more intense in the refrigerator market with limited increase.

With the increasing popularity of high-end products in the refrigerator industry, the competitive landscape of enterprises is also facing a new round of reshuffling. In general, in the first half of 2013, China's refrigerator market continued the development trend of domestic brands. Among them, companies represented by Haier, Rongsheng, Midea, Meiling, and Hisense still occupy a relatively large market share. The foreign brands represented by Siemens are eye-catching. It is worth mentioning that Konka, Jide, TCL and other companies have become "dark horses" in the refrigerator industry with cost-effective products and sound channels.

As the "big brother" of the refrigerator industry, Haier's performance has been steadily rising. According to data from China Excel, in the first quarter of 2013, Haier's retail sales and retail sales of refrigerators increased 12.49% and 21.33% year-on-year, respectively, and its retail sales and retail sales market share ranked first in the industry with 26.47% and 28.39%. Ren Minqi of China Investment Consulting analyst said that the strong innovation, leading technology and design close to the needs of Haier is the main reason for the "dominant" status.

The performance of Hisense's Hisense and Rongsheng refrigerators in the past two years has attracted the attention of the industry. According to the monitoring data of China Yikang, the volume of retail volume of Rongsheng and the market share of retail sales have already ranked second in the industry. The reporter learned from the interview that, in the just-concluded project of saving energy and benefiting the people, Hisense selected more than 400 types of models, which is second only to Haier. Ren Minqi believes that with energy efficiency "Dongfeng", Hisense and Rongsheng have catered to the market transformation trend and launched the "Bona" and "Everel" series of high-end refrigerators, which quickly gained a certain market share at a price close to the people.

Taking a look at the development trend of the brand pattern in 2013, the brand structure adjustment of the refrigerator market will continue, and the confrontation between Chinese and foreign brands “necessary” will gradually become hot in the refrigerator market with limited increase. Among them, Siemens and other foreign-funded enterprises have a stable and loyal audience at the high end with leading industrial design and good after-sales service; while domestic brands rely on a rich product line portfolio, low selling prices and in-depth channel layouts. The four-level market takes the initiative.

At the same time, the revision of refrigerator safety and performance standards will also have a certain impact on the brand pattern. Industry insiders told the "China Electronics News" reporter that, on the one hand, the new standard can improve the overall technical level of the refrigerator industry. If some refrigerator companies do not meet the required standards, they will face a crisis of elimination; on the other hand, the quality of refrigerator products will be further improved. At present, the refrigerator industry has passed a period of rapid development, and the new standards introduced by the state will help the refrigerator companies develop new development strategies.

Business expands online sales

In 2013, in addition to launching new products and intensifying traditional channel marketing, refrigerator companies have become a major highlight and trend in the industry by increasing the weight of online sales.

At present, the development focus of the domestic refrigerator market is gradually shifting from the primary and secondary markets to the tertiary and tertiary markets. According to data from Zhongkang, in the first quarter of 2013, the sales growth of refrigerators in the primary and secondary markets was 24.03% and 28.38%, respectively, and the sales growth of refrigerators in the tertiary and tertiary markets was 22.54% and 16.18%, respectively.

The reporter learned from the interview that the current primary and secondary markets are dominated by large chain sales, accounting for about 60% of the total; and the proportion of large chains in the tertiary and tertiary markets is only 10% to 15%, and most of them are sold by regional chain stores. Business store coverage.

Cai Ling, an analyst at GfK, told the “China Electronics News” reporter that, first of all, the process of new urbanization is accelerating. In the recent years, users in the third and fourth grade markets will gradually enter the upgrading period, which will become the main driving force for the development of the refrigerator industry. . Secondly, the network coverage of regional chain stores across the tertiary and tertiary markets has been continuously strengthened, and it has extended its reach to various fields to meet the needs of users. Again, the high-end trend of the refrigerator caters to the needs of the third and fourth-tier markets for consumption upgrades. It is understood that in the past, the low-end market in the third and fourth levels, with the advancement of urbanization, the current consumption of high-end home appliances is gradually being released.

In terms of new channels, e-commerce channel sales have largely surpassed traditional channels. According to the monitoring data of Zhongyikang, in the first quarter of 2013, the sales volume and sales volume of refrigerators increased by 175.1% and 154.8% year-on-year respectively. In this regard, Cai Ling believes that in the next few years, with the continuous improvement of consumer awareness and the acceleration of enterprise layout, the sales of refrigerator line channels will increase. In fact, compared to previous years, since 2013, in addition to launching new products and strengthening traditional channel marketing, refrigerator companies have increased the proportion of online sales to become a major highlight and trend of the refrigerator industry this year.

According to statistics, in March 2013, Haier, Siemens and Rongsheng listed the top three online sales market share with 23.9%, 10.6% and 8.7% respectively. According to relevant person in charge of Konka, Konka Refrigerator entered the e-commerce field in August 2012. Initially, the monthly sales scale was 2 million yuan, and now the monthly sales scale has been increased to 20 million yuan.

Although the current e-commerce channel has a strong momentum of development, an industry source also pointed out that the refrigerator companies truly integrate into the Internet and use it for my own needs. At the same time, for refrigerator companies, exploring the establishment of a three-dimensional and multi-dimensional channel pattern is still an important issue for future development.