The refrigerator market is polarized

National Bureau of Statistics data show that from January to September 2012, the cumulative production of refrigerators was 64,452,300 units, a year-on-year growth rate of -4.59%. This figure was 18.19% in the same period of 2011. It was even close to 30% in the same period of 2010, and the industry was at a glance.

Industry online monitoring data also shows the same trend. From January to September 2012, refrigerator production was 62.294 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 2.8%; sales volume was 63.29 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 1.8%. Among them, the internal sales of 47.541 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 3.8%; the export volume of 15.758 million units, an increase of 4.7%. From the monthly shipment data, refrigerator sales began to bottom out after May 2012.

The data in the retail terminal market is even worse. According to the data measured by CMM, from January to August 2012, the sales volume of the domestic refrigerator market was 23.51 million units, with sales of 55.1 billion yuan, down 13.4% and 13.0% year-on-year respectively.

From the data point of view, the situation is indeed not optimistic, and industry insiders are very consistent with this situation, the decline in demand in the third and fourth tier cities is the culprit in the decline in production and sales data. Some analysts believe that the country's economic environment has not improved, the development of the real estate market has stagnated, the government’s policy overdrafts are serious, and the three or four-tier market, which is an important support for high-speed development, has slumped, leaving the domestic market for refrigerators gloomy and the industry under great pressure.

In fact, the refrigerator industry is facing such problems, especially the internal trajectory and external sources. The market demand is an external factor. The market demand is mainly related to supply and demand. The overall oversupply in the refrigerator industry is the most fundamental factor in the decline in production and sales. The market adjustment is based on such a dynamic balance. In today's economic environment, the domestic consumer market has not yet been explored to a large extent. Dr. Siemens refrigerators sell more in Germany than in China, while Germany has a population of 82 million.

Just past “11.11 Online Shopping Carnival”, consumers from around the world have invested RMB 19.1 billion in 24 hours, including Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Beijing, Sichuan, Shandong, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Hebei, Liaoning and Anhui. Separate transactions 1 to 15 places. It seems that the consumption potential of the domestic market is far from being tapped. For developed provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, the consumption trends of fixed residents in cities are largely no longer a matter of price alone, but whether the function is diverse or not, whether it is an intelligent refrigerator. Compared with urban migrants, the main concern of this group of people is the price factor, so low-end refrigerators have a very large market in developed regions.

The decline in sales volume in the third and fourth-tier cities was mainly due to the expiry of the home appliances to the countryside policy. The demand in this area, especially in remote areas and rural areas, is relatively low, which is related to the overall income level in rural areas. The author believes that companies can formulate appropriate production and sales plans for remote areas and rural areas. In densely populated areas of third- and fourth-tier cities, residents’ consumption levels are basically at a medium level. Therefore, high-end refrigerators often have a good market response in these areas.

It can be said that the polarization of the refrigerator market will become more and more obvious in the future. Consumers with replacement needs will purchase medium and high-end products with more added value, and large-scale floating population in the urban market will choose low-end products. This will be a true portrayal of the domestic consumer market.