Various media outlets have overwhelmingly reported and elaborated on the trade war waged by the United States on its own in recent days. Too many scholars and experts have detailed interpretations and analysis of the trade clashes between China and the United States. Therefore, there is no need for the authors. We will also repeat this trade in the history of economic development between China and the United States. It is certain that regardless of how far the Sino-US trade war has evolved in the later stages, the air-conditioning industry and the enterprises in which it is located are inevitably affected. As a result, the capital market of the Spring River plumbing duck prophet has had a swift response at the beginning of the trade war.
What is also certain is that the Chinese air-conditioning industry, which is already a global manufacturing center and market center, will not sway because of this trade war. However, the short-term export market's twists and turns, rising costs, increased pressure and even large scale The pressure on the globalization process of home appliance companies is inevitable. When the internal and external economic ties become more and more close, the penetration of international markets becomes more and more confidential, and the impact of trade frictions will become even more direct.
Air-conditioning market, diplomatic difficulties
At the end of March, China's air-conditioning industry broke out again with a wave of price increases. Since the end of the previous year, air-conditioning products have entered a path of sustained price increases. The phased supply-demand mismatch in 2017 was once given to a certain degree. The driving force for price increases, but the most fundamental force still comes from the ever-increasing cost. Following the upward cost of copper, aluminum, steel, foam, packaging boxes, logistics, etc., refrigerant has become another cost increase. The huge increase in the baton forced many air-conditioning factories to release the pressure of rising costs downstream.
As a large number of new-born brands have entered the industry's mainstream vision, the explosive growth of the domestic air-conditioning market over the past two years, and the sluggish pattern of household appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and televisions, have attracted large amounts of social capital into the air-conditioning industry, not to mention , There was a capacity gap last year that stimulated the emergence of the capacity expansion boom in 2018. The contradiction between supply and demand has now been further intensified.
The trend of the retail and engineering machine market did not keep up with the company's expectations for this year's and even later-stage demand. The high target traction has driven the 2018 refrigeration year's shipments to grow again on the basis of the higher historical period in the previous cycle, and thus exceeded. 42 million sets of domestic market inventories have become an inevitable result. Recalling the pre-2016 market, this year's huge inventory seems to be another reincarnation.
The export market, which could have eased the pressure on the release of production capacity in the domestic market, fell into a more hostile environment after the Sino-U.S. trade war ignited. In the 2017 refrigeration year, the export volume of more than 52 million units set a record high at that time. The annual growth of air-conditioning exports could have achieved even more superior development. The scale of production and sales in the international market in the first half of 2018 is still growing after all. However, this Sino-US trade exchange has allowed this good momentum to continue to advance and face resistance in the short term.
Even if it claims to add US$100 billion to the US$50 billion base and covers more than 1300 customs duties such as information and communications technology, aerospace, robotics, medical care, and machinery, it will not involve air-conditioning products, but it will trigger Under the overall global economic structure, the U.S. unilateral trade policy will inevitably bring negative effects on the export of air conditioners. The air-conditioning industry cannot survive in this trade conflict.
Global trend is unstoppable
The North American market has historically been the main export area for China's air-conditioning industry. The proportion of shipments in the internationalization of air-conditioning has been consistently high, especially in the monolithic products represented by window machines. The scale of personal computers is also on the rise. However, in the current global development pattern of various air-conditioning companies, the North American market is a key but not a strategic choice, and the prospects for scale development in Europe, Central and South America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, etc. It is even more superior. It is very difficult for a country of considerable size to shake up the global development of air-conditioning companies.
China’s large-scale home appliance companies never put their hands on the domestic market. In fact, globalization has become the core direction of companies such as Midea, Haier, Gree, etc. The US Group even regards globalization as the three major strategies for corporate development. One of the spindles. Earlier this year and shortly before this year, Haier and Midea each announced the Group’s operating revenue to the public. It is a coincidence that both Home Appliances Group’s operating revenue was 241.9 billion yuan last year, which is more coincidental. The sales scale has reached about 50% of total revenue.
While these white-goods giants use internationalization as a pillar of their business operations, exports such as TCL, Oaks, Chigo, Hisense Kelon, etc. have also continued to grow in recent years, including Hitachi, Sharp, and LG. , The air conditioning brand represented by Samsung also exports its products to the global scope with China as its manufacturing center.
It is not only the leading and mainstream brands that are committed to the development of globalization. Some air-conditioning companies that have rapidly emerged in recent years, such as Meibo, also hope to make a big contribution to sales in overseas markets. The global development of China's air-conditioning industry is the trend. Especially under the macro demands of “One Belt and One Road” and “Made in China 2025”, air-conditioning companies are exporting from traditional production capacity and earning foreign exchange. The OEM model has been upgraded towards independent brand promotion, technological innovation, and local adaptation.
Global manufacturing center firmly established
The inevitable direction of the global development of China's air-conditioning industry is not only due to the company's own strategic planning. To a greater extent, it is because China has an unmatched industrial chain supporting system, technology research and development, and product innovation status on a global scale. .
The formation of this status has undergone a long process. In the mid-1990s, foreign companies represented by Hitachi, Sharp, Panasonic, and Sanyo started the manufacturing and construction of the Chinese market, and subsequently accompanied the market demand. In the high-speed outbreak, domestic brands flocked and boosted production capacity. The wave of shuffling that began in 2003 has stimulated the further enrichment of supporting resources in the air-conditioning manufacturing industry when the industry’s competitive order is eliminated. In Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, Wuhan, Qingdao and many other manufacturing circles.
Around these manufacturing centers, a large supporting group of molds, compressors, motors, two devices, sheet metal, and packaging boxes is formed. The establishment of an industrial chain supporting system is a constant accumulation of funds, continuous accumulation of technologies, and continuous market development. The process, now more than 90% of the world's home air-conditioning products are marked with a Chinese-made brand. Sino-U.S. trade wars will continue to haunt, it will not shake this core manufacturing position.
While China's air-conditioning companies are forging ahead on a global scale, traditional foreign-owned home appliance brands and enterprises have weakened their investment in air-conditioning products. Large-scale enterprise groups represented by Midea, Haier, and Gree are investing in huge technological resources. Controlled the technological dominance of the air-conditioning industry worldwide, and Midea and Haier also used capital as a link to incorporate many foreign brands into their arms.
The current industry chain supporting system of China's air-conditioning industry can hardly be replicated in the short term. Most foreign-owned brands have made strategic retreats in the field of white goods. Domestic brands have a comprehensive range of technologies, products, markets, channels, and manufacturing. Leading Advantages. Admittedly, the Sino-U.S. trade inevitability will inevitably affect the globalization process of enterprises and the export sales of air-conditioning products, but this will not change the status of the global manufacturing center of China's air-conditioning industry at all.
