Once upon a time, the Chinese water heater market has been in the three sets of electric water heaters, solar water heaters, gas water heaters, the three pillars of the pattern.With the initial installation of electric water heaters low cost, low barriers to entry, the applicability of strong, covering all markets at all levels, the performance of the most powerful, Has long occupied the position of the water heater boss.
However, in recent years, with the withdrawal of the policy of bringing home appliances to the countryside, and in a series of factors such as urbanization, changes in the energy structure and changes in consumer demand, such a pattern began to collapse. The first to be left behind was once reputed to represent The hot water industry in the future solar water heater, due to over-reliance on policy lead to serious market demand overdraft products and services also can not keep up with market developments and changes in user needs, in just a few years that quickly fell from the peak, continued to decline.
In the ensuing electric war, the two major problems that long plagued the popularity of gas water heaters and the infrastructure of gas pipelines have been gradually solved in recent years, driven by changes in consumer attitudes, energy restructuring and urbanization , Thus driving the rapid growth of gas water heaters.On the contrary, the market has been relatively mature electric water heater has not been disruptive technology, heating slow, high energy consumption and other issues did not get a breakthrough.
Therefore, in this case of diversion, the development of gas water heater is apparently more optimistic about the electric water heater is beginning to fall into passive, coupled with the continued improvement in the northern markets in the past two years to switch coal gas, coal conversion project, and electricity Water heaters have brought a direct market impact.According to the Ovid cloud statistics, the proportion of electric water heaters in the overall water heater market has dropped from nearly 48% in 2012 to 43.5% in 2016, and from In the long run, it will still be in a downward spiral.
Consumers in the store to buy electric water heater products
However, the overall situation of the electric water heater did not show a particularly significant decline in 2017. On the one hand, the complexity of the Chinese market makes it impossible for gas water heaters to completely replace electric water heaters, especially when large numbers of natural gas pipelines can not be laid 34 and rural markets, electric water heaters still have some great advantages, and there is a vast market vacillation, even in the relatively mature secondary market, most households with two water heaters will be Electric water heater reserves a place.On the other hand, with the United States, Haier, represented by the industry's leading brand in the product by intelligent, personalized and other innovations, combined with various brands in the channel continued to sink, making the electric water heater market Overall development is still in a relatively stable situation.
According to the data of Aiken Household Appliances, the output of the entire electric water heater industry reached 28 million units in 2017 and the overall sales volume was about 22 million units, slightly lower than that in 2016 with total sales exceeding 26 billion yuan In 2016, there was a growth of nearly 5%.
Leading camp stable performance, small and medium brands suffered squeeze
From the electric water heater brand structure, the ranking of the leading camp has been basically set Haier, the United States, A. O. Smith, Wan and Macro has formed a dominant market 3 +2 pattern.
2017 electric water heater market brand camp
In 2017, the best-performing brand was the United States.With the concept of "healthy living water" continuously strengthened in recent years and the introduction of the Beverly high-end series to adjust the product structure, the United States has become one of the few countries that can continuously maintain its growth One of the brands of electric water heaters. Midea sold nearly 7 million units in mid-2017.
Haier has been renowned in the electric water heater products, in addition to the well-known brand influence, Haier over the years continued to make breakthroughs in the electric water heater technology, especially in the consumer are most concerned about the security technology to continue to strengthen its original defense Electric wall technology has been upgraded to 3.0 in 2017, Haier still maintained the strong performance of the world's first electric water heater, also has more than 6 million units in the country sales.
Haier superior anti-wall technology
A .O. Smith as a brand of high-end electric water heater, despite the sales volume less than the United States, Haier, but over the years by virtue of the good reputation in the field of electric water heater, making the brand still has a more stable performance. , AO Smith's main market is still concentrated in the primary and secondary markets.In 2017, AO Smith sales of 2.5 million units.
A.O. Smith part of the electric water heater products
As for Wanhe and Macro, these two brands have been working in the water heater market for many years with a high degree of brand awareness and recognition in the user community, with more than 1.5 million sets of electric water heaters sold each year in 2017. Among them, Macro growth is relatively more pronounced, sales of electric water heater exceeded 900 million yuan.
In addition, there are only a few brands of electric water heaters that can keep active in the market. Among them, the specialty electric water heater brand Weibo has achieved its advantages in terms of scale, cost and industrial chain over the years. About 30% growth.
In an industry view, the entire electric water heater market in the case of declining scale, the brand's Matthew effect will be more pronounced, the leading brand can give full play to the advantages of the brand and channel, the mainstream brands also have the industry chain Advantage, while leaving a large number of small and medium-sized brands of living space will be subject to further squeeze.
Product innovation spare no effort to enhance the user experience in all aspects
From the product itself, the electric water heater by its working principle of the constraints in some of the basic indicators, such as heating rate, output of hot water, thermostat effect, water supply time, it is difficult comparable to the gas water heater and other alternative Products, but electric water heaters also have their own unique advantages, and to enhance the user experience around, and constantly in the safety, health, beauty, intelligence, etc. to strengthen and upgrade.
The first is in the design, the body is more compact, thin, stylish, beautiful appearance of the product began to increase, in line with the current young consumers believe in the "Yan value that justice" aesthetics such as Haier launched in 2017 Smart Instant Washing water heaters, the use of a rose gold matte metal paint, the appearance of super sports car, the outer circle of the design, to achieve the perfect semi-hidden installation; another example Ariston ARTES series of foreign brands-ICON electric water heaters, thanks to Its innovative dual-gall bladder structure, the design of the electric water heater into a mouse shape, adding a bit fashion sense for the bathroom.
In function, it is mainly reflected in the safety, health, comfort and other areas to achieve further breakthroughs in the protection of security, such as Haier to anti-power wall technology upgrade to 3.0 stage; the United States launched with triple power protection 'out of the water 'Products, MACRO launched' no wash 'technology to achieve when users turn on the hot water immediately cut off the water heater power.
Macro 2017 in the new S7 no-wash products
Water quality and health are also the main selling point of electric water heaters at this stage, including the mainstream brands such as Midea, Haier, AO Smith are constantly digging deep in this technology.According to Orville cloud statistics show that accompanied by a wave of consumer upgrades In 2017, the health water heater market share reached more than 60%.
In terms of comfort enhancement, 'high power, small capacity' products are expected to achieve rapid development, especially with the promotion of urbanization and the improvement of infrastructure, and the domestic electricity consumption environment has been greatly improved Enterprises began to make the power of electric water heaters 5000W or so, to further shorten the heating water heater waiting time, to provide more comfort bath experience.In addition, the electric water heater products to achieve more humane and intelligent operation is also the brand Question of thinking
Adjustment of product structure led to price increases, low-cost competition gradually lost its effectiveness
Not hard to find is that in order to meet the increasingly critical needs of consumers, most electric brands in the product will choose to pay attention to the high-end user experience to develop.
In fact, this point from the electric water heater market in 2017 sales decline, the sales growth of the development trend can be seen on the clues that the average price of electric water heater is showing an upward trend from another third party agency, The data show that from January to November 2017, the average unit price of water heaters reached 1784 yuan, an increase of 9.45%.
Another factor driving the price of electric water heaters is the price hike of raw materials. For this reason, many companies are forced to increase their prices one or two times in 2017 due to the pressure of operating.
Another point to note is that with the acceleration of the electric water heater industry reshuffle, a number of small and medium enterprises have been eliminated, low-cost means in the current market competition, although there are still, but has begun to gradually lose its effectiveness, the entire industry The market competition order gradually tends to be benign, the ultimate consideration of the enterprise will be in the product, scale, service, brand and other aspects of the overall strength.
Multi-directional layout to seize the incremental market, online sales increased significantly
Although the entire water heater market is showing a trend of "reeling in," the trend is still only partially and not completely at this stage, at least in regions where natural gas has not yet been installed. To a large extent, On the consumer is still the first choice.
And it is these vast 34 and rural markets, to assume the main sales of electric water heaters.To this end, many brands of electric water heaters are also looking forward to continued channels of sinking, the tentacles will be extended to more remote towns and villages Market, in order to seek further development of space.
In recent years, China's urbanization rate has been continuously rising
At present, major brands including Haier, Wanhe and Macro are beginning to gradually penetrate into deeper markets. Taking Wanhe as an example, the sales of electric water heaters in the third and fourth tier markets have gradually increased, and by 2017 It has more than 50%.
For most electric water heater brands, on the one hand, they will continue to expand the channel coverage in 34 markets; on the other hand, they will also actively promote the upgrading of electric heating products, the upgrading of terminal stores, and the enhancement of brand awareness among consumers Brand value and word of mouth spread, thereby improving the profit margins.According to an electric water heater industry insiders, 12 cities in the high prices are accelerating part of the population will move to 234 cities, which will bring some electric water heater Purchase requirements.
At the same time, the convenience of installation and price advantage of electric water heaters in the e-commerce platform sales showed a good development trend.In 2017, including the United States, Wanhe, Macro and other major brands of electric water heater products in the e-commerce platform sales Accounted for more than 20%, of which million and MACRO electric products in the e-commerce channel growth is more than 100%, an increase far outweigh the gas water heater.
Not only that, today Tmall, Jingdong and other e-commerce platforms are also continuing to infiltrate the line, in addition to a wider logistics area covering the rural market, more self-built township service stations, village-level service shops and other forms to help businesses get through 'Last mile', to more quickly seize the 34 market.This online and offline integration will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the development of electric water heaters.
