New Economic Observation | Washing Machine Industry Enters Clean To Clean Ratio 1.2 New Stage, Domestic Brand Pioneers Super Tube Technology

According to data, in the past year, the washing machine market has rapidly heated up, with continuous optimization of product structures such as high-capacity, high-end, and segmented products. High value-added categories such as dryers have maintained rapid growth, and domestic brands have gone global smoothly. The overseas market has "fully blossomed", and the constantly upgrading consumer demand has injected power into the industry's technological leap. Domestic home appliance brands have shown strong competitiveness and resilience.
On March 12th, home appliance brand TCL officially launched the T7H super drum washing machine, which has a washing ratio exceeding 1.2.
Currently, washing machines have been fully popularized in China. Data shows that the popularity rate of washing machines in urban households has exceeded 96%, and the popularity rate in rural households is also rapidly increasing. At the same time, with the increasing scale of the washing machine industry, there are various new products, functions, and technologies that are becoming more high-end, intelligent, and integrated, making consumers overwhelmed. However, in big data surveys, many consumers admit that although washing machines have made tremendous progress in cleaning capabilities, some stubborn stains and difficult to clean areas still require pre-treatment and hand washing. These stains must be treated through long-term soaking and strong hand rubbing, which is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also prone to irreversible clothing damage. At the same time, due to the increasing number of options available in the market for washing machines, consumers often fall into a dilemma when making purchases, facing countless products and not knowing how to choose.
Thoroughly washing clothes is the primary demand of current consumers. At the press conference, Zhang Rongsheng, General Manager of TCL Industrial White Appliance BU, stated that after several years of technological experimentation and testing iteration, TCL has overcome numerous industry technical difficulties around the core performance parameter of "cleaning ratio". It has pioneered super tube technology, with the largest tube diameter in the industry of 540mm, 6D lifting ribs, and a corrugated inner tube, which has enabled the new product's cleaning ability to exceed the industry limit and reach a cleaning ratio of 1.2.
The so-called washing ratio is determined by international standards, using specialized instruments to measure the reflectivity of contaminated fabrics and comparing it with reference fabrics to obtain data. The higher the value, the cleaner the clothes are washed, which is the first time in the industry that the washing ratio of a product has reached 1.2.
The demand side forces industry technology upgrading, and in recent years, home appliance brands have continuously increased their investment in technology research and development. Taking TCL as an example, there are over a thousand related patents in the field of ice washing, including 15 international patent applications, 336 national invention patents, 821 utility model patents, 341 design patents, and 9 PCT international patent inventions.
According to Zhongyikang's prediction, the washing machine market will continue to rise in 2024, with retail sales expected to reach 42.13 million units and 85.8 billion yuan. Faced with the increasingly hot market, relevant manufacturers have made significant technological upgrades in the future. In 2023, some manufacturers have launched washing and drying integrated machines that can intelligently inspect the weight and material of clothes, accurately dispense the required laundry detergent or softener, and can automatically dispense detergents according to the degree of dirt on clothes, adjust the dosage of multiple detergents according to different colors of clothes, and produce laundry products that protect and brighten the color.
In addition to technological innovation, manufacturers are also constantly exploring consumer demand, starting from segmented tracks to seize market share. In the face of the health problem of mixing mother and baby clothes, based on the partition of the upper and lower rollers, a 1kg capacity mini washing machine is launched. In response to specific needs, products such as underwear machines and sock machines are also launched.
"The continuous innovation of mid to high end products is a resilient reflection of the growth trend in the home appliance industry, including the washing machine market." An analyst from the home appliance industry pointed out that the current demand in the domestic washing machine market is mainly for updates and replacements, as consumers have a greater preference for functional and personalized intelligent products. The trend of industrial structure transformation and upgrading in China's home appliance market is obvious, and it has entered a stage of upgrading with high-end characteristics. Overall, the washing machine market has gone from being a simple standard configuration in the past to a new battlefield of segmented user needs. How to further meet the functional needs of cleaning, drying, sterilization, etc. will become the industry competition point in the future.