Japanese air conditioner manufacturers are expanding their Asian sales network in an attempt to block Chinese competitors with low cost advantages.
In Indonesia, Daikin Industries has a 20% market share in the local home air conditioning market. The air conditioner is working hard to consolidate its presence in Indonesia: Daikin plans to increase its number of stores in Indonesia by 20% by 2020. 1200. At present, Daikin's stores in Indonesia are mainly concentrated in the Jakarta area, so its store expansion will be mainly in rural areas of the country.
'We will send employees from Japan to be responsible for supplier development,' said Daikin executive Ioshihiro Mineno.
Daikin plans to introduce air conditioners that consumers believe are reasonably priced, such as products that use energy-efficient inverter technology.
Currently, only about 20% of households in Indonesia have air conditioning. However, with the expansion of the Indonesian middle class, it is estimated that by 2020, the domestic air-conditioning market in Indonesia will grow by 20% from 2017 to 2.6 million units.
(Image from Nikkei News website)
Japanese air-conditioning brand Daikin, Panasonic and Sharp in the household air-conditioning market in Indonesia accounted for a 50% share, but Gree and other Chinese competitors are catching up.
At present, Daikin's product portfolio includes a mass market model with a price of approximately US$270, while the price of Chinese competing products is approximately US$180. In order to differentiate itself from its competitors, Daikin will upgrade its installation and maintenance services. Air-conditioning companies based in Osaka, Japan, expect their revenues in Indonesia to grow 40% in fiscal year 2020, reaching 50 billion yen ($450 million).
In China, Panasonic has established a sales company in Suzhou to sell large air-conditioning systems for apartments and office buildings. More than 200 sales agents across the country will work in the new office. Panasonic will also establish a sales facility for air-conditioning in Suzhou. Residential company and showroom.
In addition, Panasonic will also move large-scale refrigeration system development from Japan to Suzhou. In this way, sales can be better linked to R&D, and Panasonic can quickly launch products that meet local market demand.
In the Chinese urban market, large system sales connected to the ceiling and connected to the room vents have been launched, especially in newly built apartments. This air conditioning system is favored by affluent consumers because they prefer to design clean rooms. It is predicted that by 2020, the size of China's large air-conditioning system market will grow to about 50 billion yuan (about 7.27 billion US dollars), double the market size in 2013.
A standard large air-conditioning system that cools five apartments does not include an installation fee. The market price is about $4,500. As the US and other price-competitive Chinese companies have already established themselves in China, Panasonic’s market share in China is not expected. 10%. Panasonic's main business in China includes small home models. Panasonic's large air-conditioning system portfolio is weak, so it is not favored by Chinese residential builders.
However, Matsushita, which is also based in Osaka, Japan, claims that the company will increase its sales in China by four or five times in the next three years by increasing the added value of energy-saving and deodorization of air-conditioning systems. 'Although we are coming Late, but we can use our technical ability to beat Chinese opponents,' said Tsutomu Ishihara, head of Panasonic's large air-conditioning business.
According to the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association, global demand for air conditioners increased by 8% last year, reaching 110 million units. As the largest market in Asia, China's air-conditioning demand has increased by 13%, while other markets in Asia except China and Japan, air-conditioning. Demand increased by 5%.