Recovering demand, confidence to boost sector's growth, experts say

China's home appliance industry is expected to gain momentum in 2023 with high-end and intelligent products containing innovative technologies increasingly favored by consumers, fueled by the optimization of COVID-19 response measures and supportive policies spurring consumption, experts said.

"As people's daily lives have gradually returned to normal, China's economic recovery is on the right track and consumer confidence has been further boosted," said Zhao Meimei, assistant president of Beijing-based consultancy All View Cloud, or AVC, which specializes in home appliances.

Consumers have shown strong demand for high-quality home appliances along with the iteration and upgrade of product functions and technologies, Zhao said, estimating the domestic home appliance market will see growth recovery in 2023, with the growth rate expected to reach 3 to 4 percent.

Statistics from AVC show the revenue of China's home appliance sector reached 708.1 billion yuan ($102.7 billion) in 2022, down 7.4 percent year-on-year.

"The home appliance sector plays a significant role in promoting and guiding the transformation and upgrade of China's manufacturing industry," Zhao said.

She added that small home appliance products like air fryers, robot vacuums, dishwashers and clothes dryers have gained popularity among younger generations and seen robust growth in sales despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chinese shoppers unleashed their pent-up demand for premium home appliances with multiple functions during the Spring Festival holiday in late January.

Data from e-commerce platform JD showed that sales of floor cleaning machines surged about 150 percent year-on-year during the weeklong holiday, while the turnover of blenders increased more than five times.

Online retailer Suning.com said both the transaction volume of robot vacuums and dishwashers at its brick-and-mortar stores skyrocketed 119 percent year-on-year during the Jan 21-27 holiday, while the turnover of 75-inch and larger televisions and air fryers jumped 216 percent and 145 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

The tone-setting Central Economic Work Conference in mid-December said that China will focus on boosting domestic demand by prioritizing the recovery and expansion of consumption in 2023. China's home appliance sector, with the world's largest production and sales volume, is a key driver of the country's consumption growth.

"The recovery of consumption has gathered pace and the home appliance industry will likely witness a notable rebound this year, on the back of continued optimization of COVID-19 containment policies and a series of supportive measures to shore up consumption gradually taking effect," said Wang Hongji, general manager of the white goods business department at research company China Market Monitor Co Ltd.

Wang added that the real estate market will gradually pick up in 2023, which will also give a strong boost to home appliance consumption.

China has also rolled out a series of stimulus measures across the nation such as encouraging the replacement of old household appliances with new ones and bolstering the consumption of green and smart home appliances in rural areas.

Industry insiders said the promotion of green and intelligent home appliances is in line with the country's intensified efforts to pursue a green, low-carbon and sustainable development path.

"Boosting domestic demand is now the top priority for ensuring stable economic growth. These measures to boost spending on home appliances will not only satisfy people's demand for higher-quality products but also propel the intelligent transformation of the home appliance industry," Zhao from AVC added.

Consumer electronics company TCL Technology Group Corp said it will increase investment to establish intelligent and automated dismantling bases. It estimates that about 7 million home appliances will be recycled by 2024, a rise of 52 percent compared with 2022.

Noting major Chinese home appliance manufacturers have expanded their presence in lower-tier cities and townships, Zhang Jianfeng, deputy secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said small and medium-sized enterprises should improve their competitiveness by launching new, environmentally friendly and intelligent home appliance products to cater to the demand of consumers, especially those living in rural areas.