The Washing Machine Market Is Steadily Advancing, While The Drying Machine Market Is Emerging As A New Force

On October 19th, the 2021 China Washing Machine and Drying Machine Industry Summit Forum, guided by the China Household Electrical Appliances Association and hosted by China Home Appliance Network, was held in Beijing. Multiple mainstream washing machine brands, distributors, and industry institutions gathered together to review the current situation in the industry, explore changes in consumer demand, and jointly seek product development directions, promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the washing machine industry.
The sinking market is currently a dividend oriented opportunity window for washing machines
As one of the most common household appliance categories, the development of washing machines in China has entered a stock market stage mainly focused on updating demand. Driven by the upgrading of consumer structure and the opportunity window of the sinking market, the washing machine market as a whole is improving. Xu Dongsheng, Vice Chairman of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said that behind this is the joint efforts of the entire industry. Nowadays, products can better match the home environment in terms of design form, and the level of intelligence is steadily improving. The washing machine industry is meeting people's aspirations for a better life with the comprehensive improvement and innovation of product technology.
Since last year, the increase in raw material prices has compressed the gross profit margin of enterprises, bringing considerable pressure to various home appliance enterprises. However, it has also accelerated the development process of enterprises towards high-end products to a certain extent. Driven by the continuous layout of high-end products by enterprises and the increasing demand for high-end home appliances by consumers, the leap in high-end washing machine products has become one of the most significant sales trends in the washing machine market.
On the other hand, compared to the saturated primary and secondary markets, the rapidly developing sinking markets (county-level and below) have shown enormous consumption potential. According to data from Gfk Zhongyikang, from January to August this year, the sales of washing machines priced between 8000 yuan and 10000 yuan accounted for 19.9% in the sinking market, indicating that consumers in the sinking market are gradually shifting from quantity consumption to quality consumption, which is an important dividend type opportunity window in the current washing machine market.
Zoning, intelligence, and health are key functional keywords
Looking at the recent sales trends of new washing machine products, "zone washing" and "intelligent" functions have become the keywords of market consumption. Manufacturers have also innovated and developed products around these two directions, launching more high-end and convenient products in segmented scenarios to further meet the needs of consumers.
With the gradual changes in the family structure in our country, the segmentation of the population is becoming increasingly diverse. Zone washing products that separate adult and infant clothing, and separate different categories of clothing such as outerwear and underwear, have received strong attention from consumers. Zone washing products have become the core product of high-end washing machines.
Under the trend of intelligent home appliances, washing machine products that provide people with more intelligent and convenient services are also a focus of consumer attention. In a recent consumer survey conducted by China Home Appliance Network on the practical functions of washing machines and dryers, "intelligent delivery" and "one click intelligent washing" ranked second and third among consumers with 33.58% and 31.91%, respectively, in terms of their recognition of useful functions.
In terms of sales data, smart washing machine products have also maintained stable growth. Especially due to the pain point of consumers not knowing how much laundry detergent to put, the intelligent placement of washing machine products is showing a high growth trend. At present, in the development of intelligent delivery functions, its technology has shifted from single delivery (detergent) to dual delivery (detergent, softener) and bi-directional intelligent delivery in zones.
In addition, health has become a normalized consumer demand, and many mainstream washing machine manufacturers are making efforts in functions such as sterilization and mite removal.
The diversified development of washing machines across different categories, and the explosive growth of dryers
With the increasing pursuit of quality life by consumers, their requirements for washing machines have shifted from simple clothing cleaning needs to clothing care needs, and the drying function is increasingly favored by consumers.
At present, in the field of clothing drying in China, the integrated washing and drying machine is the mainstream product in the market. But in the past two years, with the further improvement of living conditions for Chinese consumers, independent dryers have become one of the strong categories of household appliances in China. Among them, the heat pump dryer, which is more energy-efficient, has more precise temperature control, and has a more fluffy and soft drying effect, continues to expand and become the development direction of the industry. At the same time, washing and drying sets with higher cost-effectiveness and better matching with overall home furnishings are widely favored by users, and the market is growing rapidly.
In addition to dryers, washing machines are also diversifying and developing across different categories, such as underwear machines, mother and baby washing products, shoe washing machines, and clothing care machines. People's needs for clothing care are segmented into different groups, scenarios, and clothing, and more professional cleaning methods are used to provide consumers with a healthier washing experience.