Beijing, China -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/05/2010 -- In early 2009, with the issuance and implementation of China’s policies for promotion of home appliances in rural areas, home appliance replacement, energy-saving products and projects that benefit people, the sales volume of home appliances (including color TV sets, refrigerators, washing machine) began to rebound in China.
The policy of promoting home appliances in rural areas stimulated rural consumption, which greatly boosted the growth of the industry. In 2009, the home appliance industry achieved total profit of RMB29.5 billion in 2009, up 50% from a year earlier; the profit margin rose from 3.0% to 4.7%.
In Q1 2010, home appliance industry continued the momentum of rapid recovery since Q4 2009. The sales revenue grew by 31.3% against the same period of last year, the total output value of new products rose by 35.3% year-on-year, the output/sale ratio was 95.8%, and the total export value increased by 15.16% year-on-year. The output of refrigerators reached 15.963 million sets, a 27.40% YoY rise; 3.693 million home freezers were produced, up 40.4% year-on-year; 23.757 million air conditioners were made, up 30.0% year-on-year; 14.386 million sets of household washing machine were produced, up 40.7% compared to the same period of last year.
In Q1 2010, 16.033 million sets of home appliances were sold in China, as a part of the home appliance promotion plan in rural areas, up 4.9 times year-on-year, bringing the revenue of RMB31.67 billion, increasing by 6.9 folds. By home appliance sold in rural areas in the first quarter of 2010, RMB11.3 billion came from color TV sets, RMB9 billion from refrigerators, RMB4.2 billion from washing machine, with quarter-on-quarter growth rate of 33%, 35% and 29% respectively. Owing to the home appliance replacement policy, the sales volume and revenue of new home appliances grew by 60.9% and 61.6% respectively over Q4 of last year; in March, 57,000 sets of new home appliances sold out every day.
1 TV Set
In 2009, 99.66 million color TV sets were produced in China, up 9.3% from a year earlier; wherein, the output of LCD TV sets grew 85.2%. Besides, the sales volume of color TV sets in 2009 got to 39.50 million in Chinese market, up 10.5% from a year earlier; of which 25.5 million LCD TV sets sold out, accounting for a rising share of 67.02% in the overall TV sales volume from 32.84% in 2008. A new round of replacement has begun, and the future TV market still has great potentials. Internet TV, 3D TV and LED TV will be the highlights in the market. Hisense has advanced LCD TV technology; in LCD TV market, Hisense’s share increased from 13.1% in 2008 to 19.8% in 2009, taking the first place in the industry; in TV set market, its share rose from 14% in 2008 to 17.2 %, following 18.3% of TCL.
2 Washing Machine
In 2009, 49.4 million sets of washing machine were produced in China, up 13% from a year earlier; 26.8 million sets were sold domestically in China, up 12% year-on-year. In washing machine industry, brand concentration degree is quite high. In April 2010, Haier and Midea enjoyed a respective share of 27.6% and 23.9% in Chinese washing machine market. Washing machine export market is still dominated by foreign capital. Haier maintains the first position in the industry, but it has a lower year-on-year growth rate for sales volume than the market average. After being integrated by Midea, the sales growth rate of Little Swan and Royalstar reached 81% and 33% respectively, far higher than the industry average of 17.7% in China.
3 Refrigerator
In 2009, 60.64 million refrigerators were produced in China, up 28% from a year earlier; and the sales volume hit 59.98 million sets, a 26% YoY rise. In cities, the change of product mix was the biggest highlight in 2009. The consumption of medium and high-end refrigerators took a rapidly rising proportion. The markets in first-tier and second-tier cities showed strong recovery. In rural areas, the promotion of home appliances also made remarkable achievements. During the first three quarters of 2009, the sales volume of Haier’s refrigerators in rural areas accounted for 32%of the total sales volume of refrigerator brands in the countryside, ranking first. Yet, Haier’s market shares in Mar.2010 fell sharply from February. Midea, Hisense and Meiling grabbed Haier’s shares.
4 Air-Conditioner
In 2009, 81.53 million air-conditioners were produced in China, down 4.1% from a year ealier; and the sales reached 80.70 million ones, down 5.2% year-on-year. In H2 2009, the government granted the subsidies of RMB300-800 for the first and secondary energy-efficient air-conditioners. Since then, high energy-efficient air-conditioners have been produced in large scale rapidly, becoming the mainstream products in the market. Variable Frequency air-conditioners arose, and major manufacturers quickly launched such products. After their adjustments in product structure, GREE and Midea made great efforts in variable frequency air-conditioner and the promotion of home appliances in rural market, and they both achieved growth in each type of product. In Sep. 2009, GREE enjoyed 47% shares in rural air conditioner market, 16 percentage points higher than that of Midea. Due to the channel structure, foreign brands did not develop well in the third and fourth-tier markets, the proportion of their sales volume decreased considerably.
5 Microwave Ovens
In 2009, 60.38 million microwave ovens were produced in China, down 4.7% from a year earlier; the export volume amounted to 44.9 million units, decreasing by 7.6% year-on-year. Europe, the United States and other developed countries are the major consumers of microwave ovens, while China is a potential consumer. In China, 100 urban families have 60 microwave ovens, but 100 rural families only have less than 20 units. Glanz and Midea are still the most notable brands; in Mar 2010, among 10 best-selling models of microwave ovens, 5 were produced by Glanz and the other 5 by Midea.
The report first studies the industrial environments and overall operation of China home appliance industry in 2009 and 2010, and then makes a detailed analysis on the markets of TV set, washing machine, refrigerator, air-conditioner, microwave oven and other household appliances as well as development trends in terms of production and marketing structure, brand competition pattern and key enterprises.
For details of this report please visit http://www.researchinchina.com/Htmls/Report/2010/5913.html.