The traditional home improvement season in the beginning of spring did not set off too many waves in the closely related water heater retail market. After experiencing a wave of small waves in March, it began to cool in April.
According to data from Zhongyi Kang, in April 2018, the total retail sales and retail sales of the water heater market fell by 11.03% and 9.59%, respectively; the year-on-year decline was even more severe, at -21.04% and -15.29%, respectively. In the secondary market or the three or four-tier market, none were spared. The chain-to-retail ratio and the year-on-year comparison data both showed a different degree of decline. However, the base number was smaller, and the saturation level was lower in the tertiary and tertiary markets. To be less than a secondary market.
One of the reasons for exploring this is that on the one hand, the base of the same period last year was relatively high. The hysteresis brought about by the previous year’s real estate explosion was maximally revealed last year; on the other hand, it was also due to the fluctuation of real estate, which ran through the entire history of 2017. Strict regulation of the property market, the negative impact on the water heater retail market, focused on the outbreak in 2018.
From the cold weather in January, to the lowest sales in Spring Festival in February, and to the mediocre performance in March, the water heater market in the first quarter of 2018 was unsatisfactory. The decline in sales in April confirmed this. With the intensification of the property market regulation, this decline may become the norm in 2018.
Weak demand, sluggish industry, and increased competition at the brand level. In April, the competition between domestic brands that prevailed in the water heater market was upgraded. Among them, Haier had the best performance in the month, retail volume and retail sales. Both accounts for 2.87 and 2.46 percentage points higher than the previous quarter, 1.73% and 1.99% year-on-year, respectively. They regained their position as the number one in terms of sales volume. The US and Wanhe have different degrees of phased performance. Sliding.
With the domestic brands chasing you, the competitive advantages of foreign brands are gradually being diluted. With the high-end line, AO Smith has maintained the advantage of retail sales first, but the room for improvement has been limited; Linne, energy efficiency, Aris On the other hand, the primary and secondary markets are affected by the regulation of the property market, and foreign brands are also the first to spread. The domestic brands are relatively flexible and can both ease the pressure of the primary and secondary markets through channel sinking, and can also grab the share of foreign brands with product upgrades.
According to data from Yikang, as of April 2018, domestic brands accounted for 69.13% of retail sales and 57.73% of retail sales in the water heater market. Among them, retail sales accounted for an impressive increase in sales. For foreign brands, we can see that domestic brands are effective in product upgrading.
Subdivided into different types of products, in the same month, gas water heaters were also affected by real estate regulation in the primary and secondary markets, and sales volumes fell. In contrast, the market performance of storage-type electric water heaters with unlimited installation was affected. Better, the two retail sales increased by 2.32 and 1.77 percentage points respectively.
The weakness of external demand cannot be reversed. Brand enterprises have started to seek for endogenous growth momentum. For example, a 13-liter to 16-liter high-rise gas-fired water heater has replaced 12-liter products, becoming the mainstream of consumption, and the retail sales ratio is still rising significantly. Zhongyi.com data show that, as of April 2018, 13-16 liters of gas water heater retail sales increased by 17.39 percentage points to 51.99%; retail sales increased 16.06 percentage points to 67.01% Similarly, the retail share of the 60 litre electric water heaters also increased by 3.04 and 2.50 percentage points, respectively, to 43.35% and 49.72%.
The continuous and obvious upgrade of product structure led to a significant increase in the price side. According to the data, by April 2018, the average retail price of gas water heaters increased by 10.47% to 3,092 yuan, and the average retail price of storage-type electric water heaters increased. From 6.35% to 1842 yuan, specifically reflecting the competition between domestic and foreign brands, the price increase of foreign brands that have been at a high level was limited, only rising by 4.77% to 3,314 yuan; the average retail price of domestic brands that had been catching up rose. 12.34% to 2021 Yuan. Among them, the brand with the largest increase in price was the United States, which rose by 18.34%.
annex: China Water Heater Market Monthly Retail Monitoring Report April 2018
