In the world of home appliances in 2024, it may well be the year of "pan-environmental appliances." First, air conditioners remain active, with emerging small and medium brands constantly emerging, the second-tier challenging the first-tier, and fresh air conditioners showing fierce innovation... Recently, water purifiers have taken the spotlight, with 36-year-old Angel and 30-year-old Joyoung releasing new products focusing on whole-house water purification and deep cleaning, respectively. For example, Joyoung's Space Heat Small Purifier R5P uses a "three-in-one" full-chain antibacterial system consisting of filter elements, pipelines, and pasteurization circulation sterilization, employing aerospace-grade zinc oxide antibacterial technology to achieve continuous sterilization and extend the lifespan of the filter element.
Beyond technology, brand upgrades are also a highlight in the current water purifier market phase. Prior to the release of the new products, Angel announced their new global brand ambassador, the young actor Xiao Zhan. Collaborating with A-list celebrities will attract more attention to Angel, especially since in the past few months of 2024, there have been few major brand movements in the home appliance industry.
It seems that at this stage, water purifier brands are showing a new willingness to strive for excellence.
This is not surprising. According to Ding Technology Network's observations, in the previous years, due to the combined effects of the pandemic, real estate trends, and consumer preferences, the overall operation of the water purification market was not ideal, but the situation improved over the past year.
According to data from AVC Cloud Network, in 2023, the overall retail sales of water purifiers reached 20 billion yuan, an 8.3% increase year-on-year, with 7.97 million units sold, a 7.9% increase year-on-year. In terms of sales scale, offline channels, after experiencing a continuous decline of over 10% for three years, turned positive in 2023, with a 13.1% increase year-on-year; online channels, which experienced a "dive" in 2022, also rebounded in 2023, with an 8.1% increase year-on-year; after a significant decline in 2022, the growth rates exceeded the best levels since 2020.
The positive trend may have brought about good expectations for brands. However, this should only be part of the reason for the willingness to strive for excellence.
Another reason may be that top brands like Angel may be feeling the pressure from subsequent brands.
On one hand, in recent years, traditional water purifier brands have not shown a clear advantage in online channels; on the other hand, in offline channels, although A.O. Smith, Angel, and Qinyuan still maintain the top three positions, a trend of new forces chasing old brands is emerging.
(Data and Figures: AVC Cloud)
Online, throughout last year, the market share of Qinyuan and Anjier decreased, with a respective decline of 1.56% and 0.96%, reaching 6.75% and 4.98%, ranking fourth and fifth. Their combined share only slightly exceeded that of the third-ranked Haier. In the first quarter of this year, their market share continued to shrink, with a decrease of 0.35% and 1.67% respectively, resulting in them sliding to sixth and eighth place. Meanwhile, Haier, which is experiencing growth, claimed the top spot, surpassing the combined share of the two. During this period, three brands - Aux, Supor, and Hualing - moved ahead of them.
Additionally, it is evident that brands like Changhong and JD Home Appliances have seen a significant increase in market share and ranking from last year to the first quarter of this year, now closely competing with Anjier.
(Data and Graph: AVC Cloud Network)
Offline, throughout last year, the market share of the traditional top three brands A.O. Smith, Angel, and Qinyuan all decreased, with reductions of 0.74%, 2.9%, and 1.11% respectively, to 21.52%, 13.72%, and 13.20%. In the first quarter of this year, Angel's market share increased by 0.81% to 14.76%, while the other two continued to decline, with reductions of 3.25% and 1.02% respectively, to 18.89% and 12.16%.
At the same time, it can be observed that Haier and Midea, which have long followed closely behind the traditional top three, have maintained growth and expanded their market share. For example, in the first quarter of this year, Midea increased by 3.4% to 12.10%, and Haier increased by 1.26% to 7.86%. If Midea is combined with its sub-brands COLMO and Haier with its sub-brand Casarte, their market shares are close to 19% and 15% respectively. In the first quarter, Midea's brand has surpassed A.O. Smith, and Haier's brand has surpassed Angel.
Offline, there are also well-known kitchen appliance brands like Fotile, which as a new force in the water purifier market, are expanding their market and achieving certain results.
In this increasingly competitive environment, pressure often naturally falls on the top brands because for new forces, gaining market share means gaining growth, while for the top brands experiencing a decline in market share, they may have to "cede" the market.
When announcing their new spokesperson, Angel mentioned brand vitality, and during new product launches, Angel also carried out corresponding brand upgrades.
Given the industry background mentioned above, it may not be difficult to understand the reason for emphasizing brand vitality:
In the current water purifier market, technology is evolving, and for established brands, it is considered basic operation. Apart from Fotile's new membrane technology that "eliminates harm and retains benefits" and the earlier obvious distinctions in ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, most technologies have their strengths. As for pricing, especially online, it is challenging for old established teams like A.O. Smith, Angel, and Qinyuan, which generally position their products in the mid-to-high-end range, to compete with some other brands. For example, in the first quarter of this year, Changhong's average product price was around 460 yuan, while Aux, Hualing, and Joyoung were all around 700 yuan, and Angel and Qinyuan products were priced close to 2500 yuan.
Therefore, the strategy of "competing" brands also needs to be prioritized. Angel's new strategic direction of "the world's leading water purification expert in technology" announced at the new product launch event, as well as the earlier announcement of the spokesperson, are all brand actions that emphasize professionalism, leadership, and reaching more users.
With the deepening of users' health and comfortable living concepts, as well as the trend of optimizing various related technologies, this year's water purifier market is expected to be quite interesting. In the face of new forces chasing established brands, the curtain for a reshaping of the industry landscape may have already been drawn. (Original article by Ding Tech Network, reprint must indicate "Source: Ding Tech Network")
