Energy-saving products become the main air-conditioning market

Product features meet the needs of human nature, but also pay more attention to the individual needs of consumers. The design of the product is more fashionable, more emphasis on diversification and colorization, and more consideration to integrate with the overall environment of the home. It is expected that the introduction of new standards for energy efficiency in inverter air conditioners in the second half of the year will also have an important impact on the company’s product upgrades.

Energy-saving products become market players

Under the background of the national policy of promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, and the promotion of a new round of energy-saving and people-friendly projects that began in June last year, energy conservation has become the core of technology research and development for air-conditioning companies.

In recent years, air-conditioning products continue to innovate in technology and design. In 2013, major air-conditioning manufacturers successively switched to the research and development of frequency conversion and energy-saving technologies. New technologies such as cold catalyst, DC inverter, non-fluorinated inverter, cloud air-conditioning, and intelligent are used in Frequency conversion and energy saving products. ECO, broadband, fluorine-free frequency conversion, precise temperature control, etc. have become key words for air-conditioning business technology display. Air purification function is due to PM2.5 or standard, indoor air quality is concerned, air purification, air circulation and other functions become additional requirements for customers to buy. Others such as rapid cooling and heating, intellisense, removal of formaldehyde, smart wind and other functions are also sought after by consumers.

Suning cloud business related person in charge told reporters that this year, with the deepening of the impact of new energy subsidies policy, air-conditioning industry structure upgrades and product upgrading steadily. In 2012, energy-saving products accounted for 60% of the total, while Suning's sales of energy-saving products accounted for over 70%. The person in charge said that the reduction in costs brought about by the advantages of scale production will increase the proportion of energy-efficient air conditioners by about 10%. It is expected that the proportion of energy-saving air-conditioning products will reach 80% in 2013 and become the market’s absolute protagonist.

The air conditioning trend report recently released by Gome shows that healthy air conditioners with functions such as formaldehyde, PM2.5, and new air have become the most important factors for consumers when they buy air conditioners. It is understood that the proportion of energy-saving air conditioners with health functions in the total amount of air conditioning has exceeded 85%, of which sales of healthy air conditioners for air pollution have tripled. Gome said that it is expected that healthy air-conditioning that specifically targets air pollution will account for more than 50% of Gome's total sales in 2013.

The above trends can also be seen from the new products released by enterprises this year: companies have unprecedentedly paid attention to air-conditioning energy-saving and health functions. Of course, this is partly due to the rise in demand caused by the rise of consumers. In addition, many companies have added new technologies that originally belong only to high-end products to popular products and become standard.

For example, Haier air-conditioning uses broadband, non-fluorinated inverter technology, with an ultra-wide frequency conversion from 0.1 Hz to 160 Hz, saving 60.5% compared to ordinary air conditioners; Haier also combines innovative formaldehyde decomposition technology and modular integration technology, in addition to formaldehyde is more reliable.

At the same time, Chigo is bringing together cutting-edge technologies and cutting-edge technologies in the industry to port the hot cloud computing in IT to air-conditioning products. With the support of the cloud computing center, Zhigaoyun Air Conditioning has become a humanized intelligent air conditioner that can sense the weather, self-diagnosis, and automatic upgrade, and is no longer a cold refrigeration tool. Midea's air conditioners ranged from 180-degree sine-wave DC to non-fluorinated inverters to full-dc inverters, eventually spanning ECO technology and achieving "one night of electricity."

Significant increase in secondary energy efficiency frequency conversion

GfK China's national retail monitoring data show that in 2012, the national retail sales of variable frequency air conditioner was 56.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6% in a depressed market environment. In 2012, the market share of variable frequency air conditioners also continued to rise, accounting for half of the retail volume of the national air conditioning market. The latest energy-saving subsidies promulgated in June 2012, for the first time, have been incorporated into inverter air conditioners, which has played a role in fueling the popularity, and mainstream manufacturers have also increased investment in inverter air conditioners.

Data shows that the market share of inverter air conditioners has increased significantly in the second half of 2012. According to China Yikang's monitoring data, as of March 2013, the frequency of non-fluorinated inverter air conditioners has reached more than 56.9% and 65.33%, both in retail volume and in retail sales.

After experiencing the market introduction period before 2008 and the market outbreak period from 2009 to 2011, the domestic air conditioning market is gradually entering the market maturity period. The specific performance in the past, high-speed growth is difficult to reproduce, the industrial structure is more reasonable, the product gradually changes to the high-end, transfer to lower-level markets.

GfK China analyst Li Jing revealed that the current three-level energy efficiency is still the mainstream of the frequency conversion market, accounting for more than 60% of the overall inverter air conditioner, and the market share of the two energy efficiency inverter air conditioner has increased significantly. In the first two months of 2013, the market share of primary and secondary energy-efficient inverter air conditioners increased by 19 percentage points year-on-year, of which the share of secondary energy efficiency increased by 18 percentage points over the same period of last year.

Li Jing believes that the implementation of the new energy-saving subsidy policy has played a significant role in boosting the transition of products to high energy efficiency and low energy consumption, especially inverter air conditioners with secondary energy efficiency. As the average price of the first-class energy-efficient inverter air conditioner market is relatively high, which is basically higher than 40% of the average price of the secondary energy efficiency products, the policy subsidy does not significantly lower the price of the first-level energy-efficient inverter air conditioner, and the secondary energy efficiency products are subject to policy subsidies. The effect of the effect, the price is more easily accepted by consumers.

In addition, the difference in the technical level between different energy efficiency products is also the main reason for the increase in market share of the secondary energy efficiency variable frequency air conditioner retail sales. As the first-class energy-efficient inverter air conditioner needs more complicated technical processes and higher production costs, air-conditioning manufacturers are also willing to devote more attention to lower-cost secondary energy efficiency products, thereby occupying a larger market share.

APF or price increase

Some analysts worry that, under the new national standard, the input costs of manufacturers for air conditioning R&D and technology will increase significantly.

The new national standard for energy efficiency of inverter air conditioners is expected to be implemented in the second half of 2013. This standard will impose higher requirements on the energy efficiency rating of inverter air conditioners, and will introduce annual energy consumption efficiency (APF) evaluation indicators for air conditioners. In the future, inverter air conditioners will only have There are more advantages in energy conservation in order to be more competitive in the market.

Some experts pointed out that the implementation of new national standards for energy efficiency in inverter air conditioners will pose new challenges to the research and development of air conditioners, and the cost of a series of raw materials such as air-conditioning compressors will also increase. The air-conditioning industry will shift from relying on policy-stimulating consumer growth to solid-based growth driven by just-needed guidance.

Industry analyst Liang Zhengtian analyzed that the improvement of inverter energy efficiency standards will help promote the upgrading of inverter air conditioners. Industry leaders have technical advantages in the field of variable frequency air conditioners. In the long term, they will help the industry eliminate backward production capacity and help leading companies increase their degree of concentration. However, in the short term, because leading companies have old product stocks in their channels, the inventory will be cleared. Cause some pressure. At the same time, the introduction of new energy efficiency standards will also be beneficial to upstream component manufacturers with specific technologies and product advantages.

However, some analysts worry that under the new national standard, the input costs of manufacturers for air-conditioning R&D and technology will increase significantly. In 2013, labor costs, air-conditioning materials, copper prices, and other cost expenses have all increased, or have brought upward pressure on air-conditioning companies. It is understood that for each level of air-conditioning energy efficiency increase, the cost will increase by 250 to 300 yuan. If the new standard goes up from level 5 to level 3, it means that the cost per unit may increase by 500 yuan to 600 yuan, which does not include the cost of upgrading the production line, updating the terminal layout, etc.

In addition, many people in the industry believe that there are several factors that will also work together to push up the price of air-conditioning products in 2013. The first is the continuous increase in the cost of labor; the second is the increase in the price of raw materials; and the third is the withdrawal of energy-saving subsidies. It will be difficult for companies that are not profitable to bear the difference. Fourth, the downturn in the real estate market since last year has led to a decline in the demand for home appliances, and manufacturers have had to keep profits by raising prices.