Starting the year with orderly order intake, the home appliance industry enters a path of rational growth

Staff Reporter Chen Hong

Just after the Spring Festival holiday, the home appliance industry shows a steady recovery trend characterized by end-of-year inventory clearance and orderly order intake at the start of the year. After visiting markets, dealer stores, and production lines in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and other regions, the Securities Daily reporter learned that this pattern is a common feature of the current industry operation. As year-end promotions effectively ease inventory pressure, the home appliance industry is gradually moving away from pure price competition toward a virtuous cycle of value enhancement and efficiency optimization.

During the year-end and early New Year period, which is the traditional peak season for home appliance consumption, major brands and offline channels have launched holiday promotions, bundle discounts, trade-in offers, and other activities to optimize inventory structure and accelerate capital turnover. Older models and regular product categories have seen significant discounts. Offline stores have experienced a rebound in foot traffic, with efficient follow-up on delivery and installation services, allowing channels to orderly digest inventory and free up space for new home upgrades.

A manager at an appliance store in Kengli District, Dongying City, Shandong Province, told Securities Daily: “At the end of the year, we mainly focused on clearing old models and inventory units, speeding up turnover through holiday promotions. Now that the New Year has passed, the old stock is mostly sorted out, and customer inquiries are more focused on new products and practical features.”

During visits, the Securities Daily reporter learned that entering the post-holiday market, the overall home appliance production and sales have entered a phase of moderate recovery and demand-driven order intake. Manufacturers flexibly schedule production based on market demand, mainly ensuring the supply of mainstream products such as energy-saving and smart appliances; dealers focus on digesting holiday orders and following up on after-sales installation, with new orders steadily increasing. Although there has been no explosive growth, demand structure is becoming healthier, and market recovery is more sustainable.

From a market structure perspective, industry development is becoming more rational. Driven by relevant consumption policies, products such as green energy-saving, smart health, and integrated home sets are increasingly favored, becoming key drivers of market transactions. Meanwhile, companies are paying more attention to brand and product value, steadily advancing high-end and system-based layouts, and continuing to deepen penetration into lower-tier markets.

Recently, the Securities Daily visited leading small home appliance company Ecovacs Robotics Co., Ltd. Its CFO, Ma Jianjun, told the reporter: “The company adheres to technological innovation as its core, continuously promotes high-end and intelligent development, and keeps improving product competitiveness and user experience. At the same time, its overseas market expansion is steadily progressing. With a mature product system and localized operations, it maintains stable growth in multiple global markets, and domestic and international sales collaboration is an important support for the company’s steady development.”

Yu Fenghui, senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank (Beijing) Information Consulting Co., Ltd., told the Securities Daily: “The steady order intake in the home appliance market at the start of the year reflects a rational return to strategic management by enterprises and channels.” He believes that as consumer policies continue to take effect and combined with ongoing investments in high-end layouts and globalization, the vitality of the supply side of the home appliance industry will be further unleashed. In the future, the industry is expected to achieve more quality-driven and stable growth under the dual drivers of inventory structure optimization and product iteration upgrades.

(Editor: Qiao Chuan Chuan)