By Ada Wong

According to the latest data released by the China Household Electrical Appliances Association， in 2020， Chinas home appliance industry recovered steadily， and the primary business income of the whole industry reached 1.48 trillion， down by only 1.06% yearon-year. The annual cumulative export value was USD 83.7 billion， an increase of 18%. The scale of the export value remained at the best level in this period of time， and the growth rate was the highest in the last 10 years.

A V-shaped reversal

Specifically， despite the severe operation situation in the first quarter of last year， the industry has continued to improve since April last year， basically making up for the losses seen in the first quarter. Specifically， the refrigeration field represented by refrigerators and freezers has seen rapid recovery. According to statistics， the output of large household appliances such as refrigerators， freezers， washing machines， etc.， with the exception of air conditioners， soared during the last year. The turnout of air conditions is the only exception to this. Among small household appliances， the output of vacuum cleaners， electric baking equipment and microwave ovens also increased significantly.

Moreover， exports in Chinas home appliance industry has rebounded strongly since June. The growth of both large and small household appliances has continued since the third quarter； the growth rate continued to increase； and the export of spare parts remained the same as last year. In terms of regions， the export growth rate of Chinas home appliance industry to Asia， Europe and North America was the highest throughout the year， and the scale also reached a record high. In terms of the retail market， data from All View Cloud shows that the retail market for home appliances has completely transitioned to the pattern of online market leading the way and offline market assisting. Even for home appliances such as air conditioners and water heaters which need to be installed at home， their online channels account for more than 50% of the total.

The export of many household appliance brands is apparently also increasing. According to TCL， the cumulative sales of branded TV sets in 2020 increased by 15.9% year-onyear， reaching 23.93 million units. In particular， TCL TVs performed brilliantly in the overseas markets， and the sales volume of TCL-branded TV sets increased by 27.2% year-on-year， reaching 17.13 million units in 2020. Among these， the annual sales volume in North America increased by 25.4% year-onyear， while that in Europe grew by 66% year-on-year. The fast-growing regions included Japan， Brazil， Australia， Indonesia and Russia， with annual growth rates of 181.3%， 67.9%， 45.9%， 40.8% and 31.4% respectively.

According to the 2020 semi-annual report released by the Midea Group， overseas orders of the Midea Group increased by 10% year-on-year in the first half of last year. Galanz also provided data， which showed that since June last year， Galanzs export of household appliances has maintained a positive growth， and its export volume increased by nearly 60% year-onyear by July. According to a partial estimate， Galanzs export volume increased by 8.6% year-on-year from January to July 2020.

According to the people in charge of Konka Group， in 2020， Konkas overseas sales revenue was basically the same year-on-year， achieving stability in the sales scale of the Egyptian joint venture company and the rapid preparation of the American branch. The color TV business has made great breakthroughs in the African and European markets， and the sales scale has increased by more than 10% year-on-year.

“Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic， with efficient pandemic prevention and control and the implementation of various consumption promotion policies， manufacturers and sellers actively adjusted measures， production and sales in the home appliance industry were gradually put right， market demand gradually recovered， and exports underwent a beautiful V-shaped reversal.” According to the people in charge of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association， it is predicted that in the first half of this year， thanks to the release of consumption upgrade dividends and the supply of high-quality new technology products， the overall domestic market of the home appliance industry will exhibit obvious growth. From the perspective of external demand， the advantages of Chinas industrial chain will be further highlighted， and exports will resume growth as usual.

A decline in overseas production capacity

“The main reason for the surge in Chinas home appliance exports in 2020 is the impact of the pandemic. At present， only China still has a complete industrial chain， supply chain， and healthy and controllable production and operation capabilities， thereby ensuring the supply of overseas export orders，” explained Xu Yiqiang， an observer of the home appliance industry.

Ding Shaojiang， an observer of the industrial economy， also pointed out that China is a big country in terms of manufacturing home appliances for the world. Last year， China took the lead in controlling the pandemic and quickly resumed work and production， which further highlighted Chinas advantages in the supply side of home appliances. From the demand side， the increase in peoples time at home has led to a growth in the demand for home appliances， and the outbreak has also led to a surge in the global demand for good home appliances. From the perspective of both supply and demand， it is not difficult to understand the surge in Chinas home appliance exports.

Due to the impact of the pandemic， overseas production capacity declined. According to data from the US Department of Commerce， the inventory of household appliances in the United States has been consecutively declining for 10 months since 2020， and fell by 18.2% in October 2020.

Chinas home appliance enterprises have also increased their distribution to overseas markets in recent years. In March last year， Gree Electric Appliances announced that it would invest RMB 15 billion to build a world-class industrial park. Dong Mingzhu， chairman of Gree Electric Appliances， explained that the Gree Gaolan Industrial Park would become an important part of Grees global strategic layout.

Midea Group lays out its overseas markets through foreign acquisitions. At the end of last year， Midea Group acquired 100% of shares in Hitachi Compressor （Thailand） Ltd. Which were held by Hitachi Global Life Solutions， Inc.， and HCTL was formally incorporated into the unified management of Midea Groups business group. Midea Group said that this move will help strengthen its global strategic deployment.

Zhang Qingfu， Vice President of Haier Overseas Electrical Appliance Industry Co.， Ltd.， said in an interview with the media： “Haiers overall overseas goal is to create highend brands， to make break throughs in scene brands and to land ecological brands. In the next 3-5 years， Haier will fully enter the first echelon （Top 3） in all regions and major countries， with an average compound annual growth rate of over 20%.”

Problems such as cost and exchange rate need to be solved

In Xu Yiqiangs view， the increase in overseas orders is obviously not a bad thing. On the one hand， this growth comes from the markets just need， and is not unhealthy speculation. On the other hand， China has the most excellent and successful production capacity in the world， which can be effectively released by overseas markets， so as to benefit the healthy development of enterprises. However， although this can obviously continue in the short term， whether it will go on in the long turn depends on the needs of overseas markets. There is still some uncertainty involved.

Although orders are coming in one after another and the scale growth is gratifying， enterprises still have many concerns.

For example， the contradiction of“one container being hard to reach” has brought about a surge in freight rates. Chinas export container freight index published by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange reflects the changing trend of Chinas export container transportation market price. This index reached 2040.18 points on January 29， 2021， while the average value in May 2020 was only 837.74 points. This doubled value reflects soaring shipping prices.

Since the second half of last year， the price of raw materials has also seen growth. For home appliance manufacturers， the rising prices of core raw materials such as copper， aluminum， steel and plastics will inevitably bring cost pressure. The average price of these raw materials increased significantly in 2020. As of December 31， the closing price of LMEs （London Metal Exchange） three-month copper futures rose by 25.68% year-on-year， and the closing price of aluminum futures rose by 9.84% year-on-year.

According to a research report by Essence Securities Co.， Ltd.， as most other countries are still fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and waiting for the vaccine to take effect， the arrival of economic recovery is expected to be delayed， but Chinas home appliance exports will continue to grow this year.

Ding Shaojiang believes that exchange rate fluctuations and rising costs are objective factors， and there is no need to be too nervous. For home appliance enterprises， high-scale growth should not be regarded as an ordinary state， but high-quality growth should be regarded as the long-term pursuit. Profits are not only related to the export scale of household appliances， but are also related to many other factors， such as the export product structure， brand premium ability， industrial chain layout depth， etc. We should not focus on short-term influencing factors， while ignoring the creation of long-term competitiveness.