Washing Machines Open Up A New Path Of Integrated Development, Ushering in A Future Of Big Cleaning

"Integration" is a major trend in the current development of the home appliance market, which uses functional addition to achieve spatial subtraction and meet the usage needs of consumers for multiple appliances in limited home spaces. Focusing on the washing machine market, people are gradually shifting their purchasing of washing machine products from single items to multiple items and sets, which has also formed a contradiction of spatial carrying. This forces enterprises to continuously upgrade their product design forms and technical functions, and use composite and modular washing and cleaning solutions to maximize the value of users for various segmented washing and care needs.
The trend of integrated washing machines is highlighted
With the increasing demand of consumers for health care in specific groups and scenarios, the category of washing machines continues to differentiate, giving rise to many sub categories such as underwear machines, shoe washers, and clothing care machines, providing users with a cleaner experience through more professional cleaning methods. Due to the generally small size of household space in China, it has also led to spatial conflicts between various products and residential areas. Therefore, the integrated development of multi category and multifunctional stacking is quietly becoming popular in washing machine products.
For example, washing machines used to only have cleaning functions, but now they focus on healthy washing, with labels such as washing and drying, sterilization, and mite removal added. Through intelligent implementation of clean and protective clothing, the development of "small integration" with overlapping functions is driving the upgrading of product structure. For example, with the increasing importance placed on the drying and protection function by consumers, the washing and drying integrated machine and washing and drying set products emerged under the upgrading of quality and spatial contradictions. Through the dual superposition of function and form, user needs are combined into one, achieving a "big integration" development of the product.
Observing the new products in the market in recent years, Hisense has integrated an ultrasonic eyewash device between washing machines and dryers. The washing and drying integrated machine can not only wash clothes, but also clean glasses and jewelry; Haier has assembled modules of washing machines, dryers, shoe washers, and floor scrubbers to create a home cleaning room; Haier has obtained a patent for a laundry and shoe washing integrated machine; TCL's new twin cabin washing, drying and protection integrated machine adopts an integrated water and electricity design in addition to the integrated dual barrel washing, drying and protection integration, so there is no need to design additional pipeline lines during decoration; The Little Swan Double Washing Station product integrates washing machines, sweeping machines, and floor scrubbers into one; COLMO dual washing station products integrate two major products, namely washing and drying integrated machines and sweeping and mopping robots. This not only confirms the increasingly prominent trend of integrated washing machines, but also shows that the current development of washing machines is moving towards the family cleaning model of washing clothes and cleaning floors.
"The integration of washing machines and other cleaning appliances is a major trend in the industry." A person from a white electricity company further analyzed China Home Appliance Network, saying that the sweeping and mopping integrated machines need to be placed separately, and in most of China's already small residential areas, they will occupy an additional independent ground position. In addition, now sweeping and mopping integrated machines are adding automatic water supply and drainage functions, which requires close drainage. The water supply location in the home is usually in the kitchen, bathroom, balcony, and the same space as the washing machine. Therefore, combining the washing machine with cleaning appliances solves the problem of occupying space and convenient drainage in households.
But at the same time, he also mentioned that the development pace of this trend may not be very fast, because various enterprises are currently in the trial stage, and this new form has not yet become the mainstream trend in the industry. "At present, the integration of washing machines and dryers is the mainstream integration of the industry, and various enterprises are investing resources to focus on layout, which is also the earliest integration form in the washing machine industry."
The transformation of family labor flow and the promotion of the development of the large-scale cleaning model
As mentioned by the aforementioned white-collar enterprise personnel, the current form of washing machines in the large-scale cleaning mode is still in the industry exploration stage. Zhang Yi, CEO and Chief Analyst of iMedia Consulting, also stated that the development of the product form of the big cleaning model depends on the feedback from the consumer market. "However, washing machines are already a default essential product in households. Considering the comprehensive needs of users for health, cleaning, and other aspects, this can be promoted and implemented."
Zhang Xing, a researcher at Zhongyan Puhua, pointed out that the integrated large-scale cleaning model has indeed greatly improved the convenience and efficiency of cleaning. However, different households have different personnel sizes, living spaces, and layouts, and their capacity and space limitations on washing machines are also different. There are certain difficulties in the development of washing machines in product form, and in addition, issues such as noise, vibration, and energy consumption need to be considered. "The acceptance of the large-scale cleaning model by consumers needs to be further verified, and its future development needs to comprehensively consider multiple factors such as market demand, technological maturity, and cost."
The industry has achieved breakthrough development in innovation exploration, and in this process, it has also provided new opportunities for some once short-lived products. According to data from GFK Zhongyikang, the online retail volume and retail sales of shoe washing machines that went from being popular to being silent in just one year decreased by 29.1% and 14.5% respectively year-on-year from January to August 2023. Recently, Haier has obtained a patent for a laundry and shoe washing machine, which seems to indicate that in the future, the shoe washing machine will be implemented as a value-added function in washing machine products, which is also in line with the current trend of refined and lazy consumption in upgrading user quality. Regarding this, Zhang Xing mentioned that in terms of product form, not only the shoe washing machine, but also the wrinkle remover may be integrated with the washing machine.
Behind the product upgrade, it is also a reflection of the current changes in the family labor movement. The trend report on the transformation of household laundry scenes released by China Home Appliance Network shows that the future trend of spatial integration is becoming increasingly prominent, achieving an upgrade from the traditional demand for household laundry area functions to the composite functional requirements of laundry area, storage, pet space, and miscellaneous cleaning work. This not only improves efficiency, but also makes household work more reasonable.
Regarding this, the above-mentioned white electricity enterprise personnel mentioned that balconies meet the conditions of having water, electricity, and space, which is consistent with the development path of the washing and care industry. "For example, the product form of washing and drying sets should occupy nearly twice the original space area, and balconies are a good load-bearing space. However, there are also certain differences between different regions. In the northern region, bathrooms are mainly used, while in the southern region, more balconies are placed, which is related to the layout structure of the southern and northern regions. Enterprises need to adapt to local conditions." He admitted that both users and enterprises hope that balconies become leisure spaces in families, rather than pure functional spaces, "Therefore, our company has been committed to improving users' quality of life through product upgrades, but education in emerging categories takes time, and the development of the" big cleaning "model requires industry consensus and continuous promotion."