The year 2022 has arrived. Looking back on the past year, many changes have taken place, and all industries are still under pressure.
But under this general premise, the water purification industry has risen against the trend, to get rid of the slow growth of the past few years, ushered in a new round of high-speed expansion.
At the same time, comprehensive household appliances, kitchen electric enterprises, foreign brands rush into the water purification circuit, the industry is bustling. In a variety of forces to stir, consumer demand upgrading intensified, as well as the new water efficiency GB issued a variety of factors driven by the overlapping, the industry ushered in a new round of deep reshuffle.
01 the market continues to pick up multiple forces across the board
Pulling back the time line, the market size of water purification industry increased from 6.31 billion yuan to 31.69 billion yuan from 2013 to 2018, showing an upward trend year by year. In 2019, the water purification market turned a corner, with a year-on-year decline of 2.4% to 30.93 billion yuan. By 2020, affected by the suppressed demand of the epidemic, the decline of the water purification market was further increased, with the market size falling below 30 billion yuan.
In 2021, consumers will pay more attention to health in the post-epidemic era. Stimulated by this positive signal, the water purification industry, one of the home appliances with health attributes, will see a recovery growth.
From January to August 2021, China's water purifier sales reached 13.4 billion yuan, up 2.4 percent year on year, according to AVC. The offline market sales fell 5.6% and the sales volume fell 10.3%. Online market sales increased 15.3% year on year, and sales volume increased 4.5% year on year. Despite the limited growth, segmentation of consumer demand, the release of fresh demand from first - and second-tier cities and opportunities from sinking channels have given the water purification industry new vitality.
Take the hot segment product type in 2021, namely thermal water purifier, for example. In the first half of 2021, the sales volume of thermal water purifiers increased 50.9% year on year to 690 million yuan, and the sales volume increased 55.9% year on year to 103,000 units. In terms of brands, online brands such as AO· Smith, Midea, Qinyuan, Kangligan, Joyang, Kanite, Cassady and Haier occupy part of the market share, while offline brands such as AO· Smith, Angel and Qinyuan occupy more than 90% of the market share.
In addition, whirlpool, Philips, Kohler and other foreign brands, Joyang as the representative of the comprehensive household appliances brand, as well as fang Tai, Boss, Huadi, Wanjiale, Wanhe and other kitchen appliances brands, Internet home appliances enterprise Millet in recent years have also accelerated the entry of water purification track, and achieved good market results.
Although the market share of leading brands in the industry is relatively stable in 2021, the overall market concentration is relatively low, and the market share of TOP5 brands just reached 65%. In the industrial cycle of product upgrading and brand reshuffle, the water purification industry is full of changes, and all enterprises have greater room for improvement.
02 industry accelerated reshuffle Matthew effect highlights
In recent years, with the continuous development of the industry, the strengthening of relevant standards and supervision, as well as the continuous maturity and improvement of consumer awareness, the water purification industry from disorderly competition into a virtuous cycle of survival of the fittest. As of September 2021, there were only about 210 brands in the domestic water purifier market, down 58 from the same period last year and down 47.5 percent from 400 earlier in 2017, according to Oviyun.com.
At the same time, since 2018, the concentration of TOP5 online brands has remained at around 60%, while offline brands have been close to 80%. In particular, since 2021, a large number of small and medium-sized brands have been gradually eliminated, further highlighting the Matthew effect in the industry. On the one hand, small and medium-sized brands struggle to survive, on the other hand, high-quality water purification brands go against the trend and further expand the market.
Where the sand is washed, gold is found. In the small and medium-sized brand market shrinking at the same time, the head brand by virtue of its brand, marketing, products, channels and other advantages, further accelerate the steady market position, encroachment on market share.
As one of the oldest brands to enter the water market earlier in China, Angel has been focusing on the field of water purification for more than 30 years and constantly innovating. In 2021, A7 Pro large flux water purifier, a black technology product jointly signed by China Aerospace Corporation, aroused wide attention and was recommended by many stars and celebrities. At the same time, angel and Shenzhou Aerospace Biotechnology Group Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation laboratory in August 2021 officially landed, the future in the "sophisticated" aerospace technology and water purification combined with black technology products, worth looking forward to.
With 100 years of history, A·O Smith has been exploring localized operation in The Chinese market. With the gradual deepening of A. O. Smith in the Chinese market, while achieving rapid growth, the localization operation is becoming more and more handy. In May 2021, A·O Smith launched the annual main new product R1600BG1, and through the current popular live broadcast, short video and other new marketing methods to focus on traffic to create A popular model, so as to achieve the effect of "four to two".
With strong comprehensive brand strength, the market share of midea Group, a comprehensive home appliance brand, has jumped in the field of water purifiers. According to midea's 2021 semi-annual financial report, midea's online market share is as high as 17.8%, and offline market share is 21.5%. Behind this, in addition to the cost performance under the scale advantage, Midea performs very well in the intelligent aspect of the water purifier. In 2021, Midea reached strategic cooperation with Huawei, and launched the Yuanqi series · Coconut water purifier equipped with Hongmeng 2.0 system. This product can be connected to the Internet quickly without downloading any APP, and can monitor water quality in real time, bringing a new idea for intelligent upgrading of the industry.
Anchoring the high-end water purification market in China, Ecoport further refines its water purification product layout under the strategic framework of whole house water purification system solution in the Chinese home scene. In March 2021, Yikou will release two new products: Xiangai Series end direct drinking machine and Meiyan series wall-mounted bath softener, among which, Xiangai series focuses on kitchen water research and development, while Meiyan series focuses on bath soft water. At the same time, in terms of marketing, Yikou stands in the "her economy", launched the "her time · her life" women's forum, focusing on the female group's deep-seated needs for self-growth, exquisite life, showing the hundred years of water brand from different dimensions of women's value and growth of care, caused a wide resonance.
conclusion
In 2021, the growth of the water purification industry turned from negative to positive, showing strong resilience. In the future, with the further popularization of the concept of healthy water consumption, quality consumption brings further differentiation and scene of drinking water demand, as well as new standards and new technology iterations, the drinking water dispenser industry will usher in a new round of reshuffle and rebound growth.