On December 12, 2013, Gree chairman Dong Mingzhu and Xiaomi technology CEO Lei Jun set a one billion yuan stake in the turnover of the two companies five years later. This year is the final year of the gambling contract. In this game, many melons said: Air conditioners must be selected for Gree, but mobile phones may not necessarily choose millet. Although that is said, with the air-conditioning business, Gree can really sing along in the market?
Gree, which started with air conditioning, entered the bottleneck period
Gree, a veteran household electrical appliance company, has a good reputation in the Chinese home appliance market and its market development is also in a steady upward trend. According to the relevant data, Gree Electric Appliances' annual revenue for 2017 was close to 150 billion yuan, an increase of 29% year-on-year. Gree air-conditioning sales accounted for more than 80%, air-conditioning Gree's 'fist' business.
Speaking of Gree, many people think of 'good air conditioners, Gree', and other businesses such as refrigerators, rice cookers, etc. do not have such a big reputation as air conditioners. Whether in terms of market share or income from business operations, basic air conditioning To become the source of 'Monopoly' of Gree's revenue, other household appliance brands accounted for only about 2% of the market share.
The 2017 China Air Conditioning Industry Report jointly issued by China Electronics News and China Yikang indicated that in 2017, China’s sales in the air-conditioning market reached 57.87 million units, an increase of 27.4% year-on-year, and sales reached RMB 19.8 billion. , The year-on-year increase of 32.4%. The reason why the size of the air-conditioning market will increase is mainly due to the following aspects:
On the one hand, the global climate is constantly warming, hotter in summer, and colder in winter. This situation stimulates people to consume air conditioners. The “2017 China Air Conditioning Industry Report” shows that alone in July 2017, Nearly 10 million air-conditioner units were sold, a year-on-year increase of 40%.
On the other hand, the tension in the market for real estate funds last year was eased, and the proportion of new home purchases was increasing. When users renovated their new homes, most of the new homes would have air conditioning installed, which would, to some extent, increase the air-conditioning market. Sales volume.
Moreover, under the consumption upgrade, the concept of consumption in the urban and rural areas has changed, further stimulating the development of the air-conditioning market.
Household appliances are products that are resistant to consumption. After experiencing a market battle, they will enter a stage of slow development. According to relevant data, the air-conditioning market will enter the adjustment period in 2018 and will show a downward trend in product sales. Relevant data show that the frequency conversion air conditioner, the popularity of the art of air conditioning in the market has been higher than 60%, the development of the air conditioning market is gradually narrowing.
Nowadays, the development of Gree air-conditioning in the market is gradually approaching the ceiling. It is difficult for a single brand to bring more market and profits to the company. Under this circumstance, various companies begin to lay out multiple areas. In the ever-changing market and demand In order to comply with the development of the times, Gree announced its march into diversification in July 2016.
Although the road to diversification is good, it is not easy to go
Dong Mingzhu once said a word: 'I hope everyone will sit in Gree's car, call Gree's mobile phone, control the temperature of air conditioners at home, and enjoy the delicious food Gree will bring to you.'
From this sentence, we can read the following information: Gree has begun to take a pluralistic path, and there is also Gree's ambition.
Gree's diversified layout is also a helpless move under the pressure of the market. The air-conditioning market is gradually entering a bottleneck period. Changes in market demand have forced Gree to lay out new industries.
In March 2015, Gree released its first smart phone and officially entered the smart phone field. Since then, it has also launched Gree Mobile 2nd Generation, Gree Color Circle, etc. In 2016, Gree intends to acquire new energy companies and announced its entry into the field of new energy vehicles. However, whether it is a smart phone or a new energy vehicle, Gree has a lot of difficulties in its diversification.
Entering the field of smart phones, there is no power
In July 2016, Miss Dong: “Gree entered the era of diversification” marked the start of Gree’s diversification strategy. As early as March 2015, Gree introduced the first smart phone, but it did not set off in the market. The water splash can be said to be a relatively failed case. Relevant data show that Gree launched a color smart phone with less than 10,000 units sold in the market.
It is not unreasonable that Gree has repeatedly lost in the field of smart phones.
Weakened people's demand for mobile phones. For mobile users, mobile phones are smart products that can satisfy users in terms of entertainment, application service level, and content acquisition. However, for Gree’s smart phones, they are The positioning is like a 'remote control'. In terms of function building, it is mainly linked to the interconnection of smart homes. In the words of Dong Mingzhu, it is through Gree's mobile phones to control home appliances and realize real-time monitoring and protection of home safety. This kind of strategic thinking not only confines the mobile phone user to the range of 'remote control household appliances', but also ignores the user's fundamental needs for smart phones.
In the development of smart phones, in addition to the high hardware requirements, software also needs protection. And people have formed a stereotype of Gree = air conditioning, home appliances, and Gree also said Without a price war, the smart phones introduced are taking the high-end route. Even if there is fierce defeat in market sales, there is no price reduction. This is a manifestation of Gree’s insistence on the original intention of the product, but at the same time it does not understand how to adjust its own development according to market changes. The 'hardcore' strategy.
The above-mentioned problems have limited the development of Gree smartphones in the market. Although Gree has sufficient conditions to deal with various layouts and changes in the market, both in terms of capital and hard technology, Gree’s mobile phones appear too Late and weakening of cell phone attributes is the 'culprit' that caused Gree cell phones to be difficult to develop in the market.
Although Dong Mingzhu has always stressed that Gree’s mobile phone did not fail, but in terms of the market, this is failure. In addition to smart phones, Gree also entered the field of new energy vehicles.
Gree to enter the new energy automobile market is still lost in the future
In 2016, Gree announced that it would acquire new energy companies and made it clear in April that Gree purchased new energy companies because Gree was ready to take the road. Although in the end, Gree failed to acquire Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy. Co., Ltd., but Dong Mingzhu's stake in Zhuhai Yinlong and Gree's series of actions are clearly stated: Gree's entry into the new energy automobile market is imperative.
At the China International Commercial Vehicles and Components Exhibition in 2017, Gree did not exhibit new energy vehicles for the first time but exhibited other related products in the new energy automobile industry chain. The layout starts with the industry chain and continuously enriches the automotive industry chain, such as automotive air conditioning, energy storage equipment, etc.
It is understood that Gree does not intend to build new energy vehicles on its own in the short term, but it plans to cooperate with new energy companies to lay out the new energy vehicle market. This can appropriately reduce the risk of Gree’s entry into the field of new energy vehicles.
However, Gree's layout in the field of new energy vehicles is not always smooth.
First of all, although Gree has always emphasized that they are serious, Gree has not even had a true sense of cooperation in the field of new energy vehicles since it was announced in 2016. Zhuhai Yinlong personally invests in Dong Mingzhu, and Gree Xiali's cooperation did not succeed.
At present, Gree has no new energy company partners in the field of new energy vehicles that can go hand in hand, not to mention new energy vehicles, that is, in the field of car building experience, Gree is 'little white'.
Secondly, Gree entered the new energy automobile market relatively late and faced rivals such as Tesla and Weilai Automobile. In the new energy automobile market, Gree said it will take the economic route, that is, Gree introduced new energy vehicles. Compared with the new energy auto companies that take the high-end route, the products are difficult to produce explosive products, and they are not attractive to consumers.
Gree's diversified layout, whether in the field of smart phones or new energy vehicles, gives people a sense of 'thunder, rain, and small' in terms of market performance. Whether Gree can achieve counterattacks in future development At present, it is relatively suspended.
With drastic changes, how did Gree break market barriers?
Although Gree’s recent turnover has shown a rising trend, in terms of the overall market, apart from the air conditioner market, Gree also has a leading edge. In the newly-introduced smartphone market, new energy vehicles have encountered varying degrees of Difficulties. If Gree wants to get rid of these obstacles and build market myths again, it needs some action.
Today, the smart phone market pattern in China is basically set. Gree wants to have too much difficulty in the development of the smart phone market. In the case of unpredictable smart phone fields, Gree should change its strategic layout in the smart phone market. , Walk other fields.
Gree’s application design for smart phones is biased towards the control of smart homes. Since that is the case, Gree can fully deploy this area to its smart phones and upgrade them to 'smart remotes', transforming mobile phone applications into smart homes. Application monitoring, and ultimately through the 'smart remote control' to control the overall housing. This will prevent Gree continue to burn money on smart phones, but also opened up new areas for Gree Tim.
In the field of new energy vehicles, Gree wants to accelerate the deployment of new energy markets, and cooperation with new energy companies is a good choice, but Gree is currently facing no object of cooperation with them.
When the new energy companies like Weilai Automobile and Xiaopeng Automobile continue to develop and rise, what Gree needs to do is,
Continuously strengthen the layout of the automobile industry chain and expand Gree's market share in the new energy automobile industry chain;
If it is not possible to find a suitable partner for new energy companies in China, Gree can seek related companies abroad;
Gree first invested in the new energy auto companies that are currently developing on the market, and through continuous learning, they will be able to introduce their own brands afterwards.
Today, in the household appliances market, Gree’s influence is mainly focused on the air-conditioning business. Gree’s road to diversification is not smooth. To break this embarrassing development situation, it is necessary to properly Adjust market strategy.
The most important thing is to break the people's inherent concept of Gree, and attract more people's attention by continuously creating explosive products for consumers and launching high-end, personalized brands.
This year is the last year of betting between Dong Mingzhu and Lei Jun. During this time, there are many unknown variables. However, Gree and Xiaomi’s various layouts in the market will be the key to who will win or lose. Today, The climax is gradually approaching. The people who eat melons said that the bench has been moved. Please start your performance.