The first quarter report of 2024 has brought about a new understanding of the home appliance industry. Since the beginning of 2024, the reshuffling of the home appliance market has accelerated, with leading companies such as Midea Group, Haier Smart Home, Gree Electric Appliances, and Hisense Home Appliances expanding their advantages and market share, showing a dual increase in quantity and profit. Changhong Meiling, TCL Smart Home (formerly OMA Electrical Appliances), and other brands have also seen increases in both sales volume and profits.
By Sun Li
Since the beginning of 2024, the reshuffling of the frontline home appliance market has accelerated, showing a trend of "the strong getting stronger." Midea Group, Haier Smart Home, Gree Electric Appliances, and Hisense Home Appliances have all experienced double-digit growth in revenue and profits in the first quarter of this year, further expanding their market-leading positions.
Midea Group's first-quarter report shows: in the first quarter of 2024, the company's revenue was 106.102 billion yuan, an increase of 10.22%; net profit was 9 billion yuan, an increase of 11.91%. The smart home business grew by 11%; commercial and industrial solutions business grew by 9%.
Haier Smart Home achieved operating income of 68.978 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 6.01%; net profit was 4.773 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.16%; the gross profit margin in the first quarter reached 29.0%, up 0.3 percentage points from the same period in 2023. Overseas revenue and profits increased, with operating profits growing by over 10%, and Casarte continued to maintain double-digit growth.
Gree Electric Appliances achieved revenue of 36.596 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 2.53%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 4.675 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.77%. Basic earnings per share were 0.85 yuan, an increase of 16.44%.
Hisense Home Appliances achieved revenue of 23.486 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 20.87%; net profit was 0.981 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 59.48%.
In terms of revenue scale, Midea Group was driven by the strong performance of its commercial business, breaking the billion-yuan mark in a single quarter; Haier Smart Home, Gree Electric Appliances, and Hisense Home Appliances continued to deepen their presence in the home appliance sector. Although they still grew against the trend, the revenue gap began to widen, with Haier Smart Home's single-quarter revenue surpassing the sum of Gree Electric Appliances and Hisense Home Appliances, maintaining a strong leading position.
In terms of revenue and profit, the most representative aspect is that the profit growth of the four aforementioned companies exceeded their revenue growth, indicating that the companies' product structure adjustments and operational quality optimizations are gradually improving. Haier Smart Home's profit growth reached as high as 20%, surpassing Midea Group and Gree Electric Appliances, indicating that their digital transformation is yielding results; Hisense Home Appliances' profit growth nearly reached 60%, showing that the company is rapidly catching up with the leaders in recent years.
From the perspective of the home appliance business, Hisense Home Appliances had the smallest revenue base but the fastest growth rate exceeding 20%; followed by Midea Group with a 11% growth rate in the home appliance business; Haier Smart Home at 6%, and Gree Electric Appliances at 2.53%. This indicates that the growth of Hisense Home Appliances, Midea Group, and Haier Smart Home is based on a synergistic growth system and a multi-category matrix in the home appliance sector, as well as a global operational layout, demonstrating stable development and a "shine in the East and West" trend. Gree Electric Appliances' expansion in the multi-category home appliance business is relatively slow, continuing to rely on air conditioning products and being significantly affected by seasonal factors.
Looking at the overall landscape of the home appliance industry, the reshuffling of the white goods market and brands is accelerating, showing a trend of "the strong getting stronger." In the first quarter of this year, when the overall market was sluggish and consumer demand remained weak, top companies such as Haier, Midea, Gree, and Hisense achieved steady growth in multiple categories such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, kitchen appliances, and small home appliances, with profit growth outpacing revenue growth, moving towards high-quality development.
In addition to the four companies mentioned above, in the white goods sector, OMA Electrical Appliances, soon to be renamed TCL Smart Home, disclosed its first-quarter report for 2024, showing total operating income of 4.198 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.60%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 0.225 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.83%; this includes the combined business of OMA refrigerators and TCL washing machines.
As a white goods business platform under Changhong Group, the previously released first-quarter report of Changhong Meiling for 2024 shows: the company achieved revenue of 5.94 billion yuan, an 18.20% increase year-on-year; net profit was 0.156 billion yuan, a 26.93% increase year-on-year.
It can be seen that with the drive of leading companies, the mature Chinese home appliance industry is accelerating its reshuffling in the frontline market, guiding the entire industry towards a new stage of "the strong getting stronger." Whether in the just-started market competition of 2024 or the concluded market competition of 2023, the home appliance industry sees that the reshuffling phase is coming to an end.
Earlier financial reports from 2023 show: Midea Group achieved operating income of 372.037 billion yuan last year, an 8.18% increase year-on-year; net profit was 33.72 billion yuan, a 14.1% increase year-on-year. Haier Smart Home achieved revenue of 261.428 billion yuan last year, a 7.33% increase year-on-year; net profit was 16.597 billion yuan, a 12.81% increase year-on-year.
Gree Electric Appliances achieved revenue of 205.018 billion yuan last year, a 7.82% increase year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 29.017 billion yuan, an 18.41% increase year-on-year; earnings per share were 5.22 yuan, a 17.83% increase year-on-year. Hisense Home Appliances achieved operating income of 85.6 billion yuan last year, a 15.5% increase year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.837 billion yuan, a 97.73% increase year-on-year; basic earnings per share were 2.08 yuan.
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