Parallel development of industry standards and high-quality development: Comprehensive rectification

In 2024, the Chinese home appliance industry underwent a profound transformation from "involution" to "anti involution". This year, the term 'involution' became a hot topic in the industry, with issues such as price wars, homogeneous competition, and overcapacity intertwined, forcing companies to seek ways to break through the vicious cycle; The guidance of central policies, the proactive transformation of enterprises, and the upgrading of consumer demand have jointly promoted the industry to move towards the path of "anti involution" towards high-quality development.

The dilemma of internal competition: the quagmire of price wars and vicious competition

In 2024, the home appliance market is deeply mired in stock competition. Taking air conditioning as an example, as of early June, the industry's inventory reached 50 million sets, reaching a peak in nearly two years. Due to inventory pressure, the average online price of air conditioners during the 618 shopping festival decreased by 6.9% year-on-year, and the price of 1.5 horsepower single cooling models even approached the cost line. The fields of color TV, kitchen appliances, etc. are also in dire straits. The price of 100 inch LCD TVs has halved compared to the beginning of the year. Some companies admit that "the decline in sales has forced short-term market competition, and the long-term value is difficult to sustain". This low price competition leads to the compression of industry profits, and enterprises are trapped in a vicious cycle of "cost reduction - low quality - further cost reduction", with insufficient motivation for technological innovation and quality upgrading.

Policy Breakthrough: Central Adjustment and Industry Shift

Faced with the crisis of internal competition, central policies have become a key driving force. In July 2024, the Central Political Bureau first proposed the concept of "preventing vicious competition through internal competition", emphasizing industry self-discipline and technological breakthroughs; The Central Economic Work Conference in December further upgraded to "comprehensive rectification of internal competition", extending the scope of governance from enterprises to local governments, and significantly strengthening policy efforts. This transformation sends a clear signal that competition needs to be based on fairness and order, and enterprises need to shift from price wars to value wars, achieving sustainable development through technological innovation and quality upgrades.

 Enterprise Practice: Innovation and Service Breakthrough to Break Out of Internal Competition

Under policy guidance, top enterprises take the lead in action. Midea Group Chairman Fang Hongbo proposed to "participate in internal competition" while "break out of internal competition", that is, to break through homogeneous competition through technological innovation. For example, Midea simplifies internal processes, eliminates formalistic meetings, and focuses resources on research and development; Gree Electric's Dong Mingzhu criticized the low price strategy as a manifestation of technological incompetence, emphasizing the need to adhere to the bottom line of quality and reduce costs through technology rather than cutting corners. In addition, service has become the key to differentiated competition. According to undercover investigations, Haier's after-sales service qualification rate is 100%, but most companies still need to improve, highlighting the room for service upgrades.

Trade in: The synergy between policy dividends and consumption upgrading

In 2024, the "trade in" policy will become an important engine to activate the market. The policy covers eight major categories of household appliances, with a subsidy ratio of 15% -20%. The proportion of first level energy-efficient products exceeds 90%, directly driving sales of 270 billion yuan. This not only alleviates inventory pressure, but also promotes the industry's transformation towards green and intelligent. For example, the recycling volume of waste household appliances increased by 14.83% year-on-year, and circular economy and low-carbon manufacturing have become new directions. Driven by both policies and the market, enterprises are gradually abandoning low price strategies and shifting towards high-end and scenario based product layouts.

Future outlook: Industry rebirth from internal friction to co creation

2025 is regarded as a crucial year for the home appliance industry to resist internal competition. The continuous intensification of policies, deepening of trade in programs, and accelerated technological iteration have provided three major paths for enterprises to break out of internal competition:

Driven by technological innovation: Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and other technologies are integrated into products, such as intelligent scanning and mopping robots, whole house interconnected ecosystems, and opening up new consumer scenarios

Globalization layout: Enterprises accelerate overseas factory construction and brand output, such as Hisense sponsoring the European Cup and TCL expanding into the American market to diversify domestic demand pressure through internationalization

Industrial Chain Collaboration: From Whole Machine to Parts Enterprises, 'Group Going Global' to Build Global Competitive Advantage

conclusion

In 2024, the home appliance industry completed the awakening from "involution" to "anti involution" in pain. The triple synergy of policy guidance, enterprise transformation, and consumption upgrading is driving the industry towards high-quality competition centered on technology, quality, and service. In the future, only by adhering to the bottom line of innovation and embracing global opportunities can we break through the waves in the vast ocean of stars in the home appliance industry.