'The eyes of Xuanzhu, the teeth if the shells', this is the idiom from the Eastern Han Bangui "Han Biography of the East", the ancestors used to describe the good looks of men or women, later generations often used to ' To describe the neatness of the teeth.
Teeth are human organs that need to be cleaned up and carefully guarded. Compared with Europe and the United States, the care of the teeth of the Chinese people has been taken seriously since the trend of consumption upgrading in recent years. Relevant oral care products are gradually appearing in the market. And rapid development and popularity, electric toothbrush is one of the most representative categories.
Great development space under low penetration rate
The electric toothbrush was invented by the Swiss doctor Philippe-Guy Woog in 1954. It consists of a motor, a brush head and a power supply. The high-speed vibration of the brush head is caused by the rapid rotation or vibration of the motor core, and the toothpaste is decomposed into fine foam to the teeth. Clean, while promoting the blood circulation of the mouth with the vibration of the bristles, massage the gum tissue.
According to the working principle, the electric toothbrush can be divided into rotary type and acoustic wave type. The rotary principle is simple, that is, the motor drives the circular brush head to rotate, and the common brushing action is performed while strengthening the friction to achieve the effect of cleaning the teeth; the sonic type is the vibration type. The toothbrush, through the internal vibration motor, causes the brush head to generate a small amplitude of high-frequency vibration perpendicular to the direction of the handle (usually about 5 mm above and below, the industry's largest swing is 6 mm), and the brushing action is completed while cleaning The effect of the dirt on the teeth, because the vibration frequency of the bristles is similar to the frequency of the sound waves, the vibration speed per minute is 31000 times, so it is called sonic toothbrush.
In terms of market size, according to data released by China National Household Electrical Appliances Association industry researcher Si Mingming, the global market for electric toothbrushes in 2016 was US$4.08 billion. In the future, its global market size is expected to expand steadily, with an average annual compound growth rate of approximately 6.8%. As for the Chinese market, the current US-based (Jian) appliance has entered a period of rapid growth in China. Recently, the China National Household Electrical Appliances Association released the "2018 Meijian (Ji) Electrical Appliance Industry Research Report" (hereinafter referred to as "Report"). In 2017, the retail sales of China's electric shavers, hair care appliances and electric toothbrush products reached 24% year-on-year, and retail sales increased by 40% year-on-year. Among them, the performance of electric toothbrushes was the most eye-catching, and the retail sales increased year-on-year. 92%.
Li Wei, head of Xinbao Electric Beauty Project, told reporters that the start of electric toothbrush in the domestic market started in 2012. It has been a blank market before. It can only be bought in very high-end shopping malls in China. Since 2012, it has arrived. In 2015, the market scale reached 1 billion yuan, and in 2017 it reached 4.5 billion yuan. Its magnitude growth is very alarming.
In the recent survey of China National Grid, related companies have said that the current penetration rate of electric toothbrushes in China is less than 10%. The report also shows that compared with 42% of the United States, 40% of Japan's penetration rate, electric The penetration rate of toothbrush in the Chinese market is only 5%. However, the low penetration rate means large development space and great development potential. Yao Jun, head of GEB brand of Xinbao Electric, said that in the future, beauty equipment and other facial products and electric appliances Oral care products such as toothbrushes and red teeth are the most promising prospects. Because consumers are more willing to spend more money on beauty and health in the context of consumption upgrades, 'people's use of scene segmentation will have countless opportunities for innovation. . '
Zhao Jian, deputy general manager of Zhejiang Yueli Electric Co., Ltd. also believes that the most promising future market development is oral care products. He concluded that there are two reasons. 'First of all, this is a rigid demand, both in terms of beauty and human health. The oral consumer market does not need to be cultivated. From the beginning of kindergarten, parents will let children brush their teeth. You have to put the toothbrush in vain. This is a demand. Secondly, the biggest demand in the Chinese market is that there are many people, the length is large, and the people are the market. The first element, many people are big markets, and the future is the oral care market based on electric toothbrushes.
Many challenges under the great development prospects
Opportunities and challenges often coexist. As the development prospects are favored by the industry, a large number of domestic and foreign SMEs have entered the electric toothbrush market. Jingdong data shows that as of the end of 2017, JD.com found that the number of electric toothbrush brands reached 222. International brands mainly include Philips, Braun Oral-B, Panasonic, Bayer, FOREO, etc. Domestic brands include Haier/KKC, Xinbao, Shuke, Boao, Wudou, Luoman, Oclean, Danlong, etc.
At present, the electric toothbrush is still in the introduction stage, the market growth rate is higher, and the demand growth rate is faster, but at the same time, there is still some uncertainty in the product technology. For example, the raw materials used in the brush head of the electric toothbrush/zero Parts are dependent on foreign technology, profit margins are limited, and product safety is difficult to guarantee. Li Wei told reporters that in the production of electric toothbrushes, the formal production workshop should be dust-free, workers must wear headgear and The shoe cover enters, otherwise it is difficult to guarantee the hygiene of the product. 'But in some small factories, the workers are dusty and sweaty to produce toothbrushes. If the user sees this scene, is anyone dare to put the toothbrush into the mouth?'
'Industrial standards lag or even missing is the biggest problem at present, and cognitive education is also very important for consumers.' Yao Jun mentioned, 'The price difference of electric toothbrushes of various brands on the market is obvious, and some people may be confused about products. What is the difference? With a battery as an example, the cost difference between a high-performance lithium battery used in an electric toothbrush and an ordinary nickel-hydrogen battery is about 7 times. The high-performance battery is not only durable, but also has a long life, and provides sufficient power to support the toothbrush. High-frequency vibration, but ordinary nickel-metal hydride batteries are far from this effect. 'In addition, including motors, vibrating fins, toothbrush heads and even shell materials are exquisite, 'future, in establishing sound industry standards Next, it is necessary to promote and educate consumers on products, correctly guide market consumption, and promote healthy development of the industry.
'The electric toothbrush industry has to face shuffling. There are many suppliers of front-end materials for electric toothbrushes, and there are many companies that have already withdrawn,' said Yu Xudong, founder of Haier Information Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Nowadays, the amount of data on adult electric toothbrushes is very large, and the competition is very fierce. 'The whole is not as good as 2016.' Yu Xudong said that he will focus on children's electric toothbrushes in the future, and 'now not to start another year or two. It is too late. It can be seen that in the process of rapid development and popularization of electric toothbrushes, there is not only competition, but also elimination.
Xu Guofu, director of the Small Appliances and Health Department of the Home Appliances Division of the Jingdong Mall Electronic Entertainment Group, hopes that more brands will join the electric toothbrush industry, speed up the penetration of this category and the sinking of channels, and increase the penetration rate of electric toothbrushes. The person who used the electric toothbrush went back to use the manual toothbrush and felt very deep.
Domestic electric toothbrushes have entered the market with the attitude of light luxury products. At present, the comprehensive popularity has not been completed, and the competition is eliminated. This is a great pressure and challenge for enterprises that are on the road or new to enter. But have to say It is pressure and power, it is a challenge and an opportunity. It is hoped that each electric toothbrush brand can promote new trends in catering to the trend of consumption upgrades, meet the individual needs of consumers, resist the low-price and low-grade vicious competition, and maintain the benign development of the industry.