Policy "empty window period" home appliance industry go from here

Following the expiry of the home appliances and home appliances trade-in policy, a one-year energy-saving home appliance subsidy policy has also come to an end. Consumers purchased air-conditioners, flat-panel TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and water heaters as the top five categories of energy-saving home appliances, and no longer enjoy the central government subsidy policy. Policy "empty window period", home appliances industry go from here? What should the consumer rely on to pull? How does the "non-subsidy era" affect consumers? A series of questions are waiting for the market to answer.

Does the subsidy continue to be disputed?

On June 8th, it was the 8th day after the energy-saving subsidy policy for household appliances was over. Reporters found that some home appliance stores in Beijing, compared with the energy-saving subsidy policy before the hot scene of home appliance stores, the supermarkets deserted a lot. In the survey, the reporter found that some home appliances that enjoyed subsidies before had all experienced different degrees of gains.

The energy-saving subsidy policy for household appliances is a home appliance subsidy policy that was launched by the country on June 1, 2012, following the “home appliances going to the countryside” and “replacement from old to new”. The State Council arranged financial subsidies of 26.5 billion yuan to launch and promote air conditioners, flat-panel TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and water heaters that meet energy-saving standards. The subsidy period is one year.

According to figures from the Ministry of Finance, as of now, the energy-saving subsidy policy has promoted more than 65 million sets of five types of energy-saving home appliances and boosted consumer demand by more than 250 billion yuan. There is no clear information as to whether the energy-saving subsidy policy will continue after the expiration. However, the reporter learned from the interview that there are different views in the industry on whether or not the policy should continue after the expiration date.

The black power enterprises hope that the subsidy policy for energy saving and benefiting people can be extended after the expiration and increase the "threshold" of the subsidy policy. Most white-living companies hope that the subsidy policies for energy-saving appliances will exit the market after the expiry of the period, and “oppose the 'policy dependence', which should be handed over to the market.”

Hong Shibin, executive chairman of the China Home Appliances Association’s Marketing Committee, said that the negative impact of the subsidy policy has been seen in disrupting the healthy development of the market and causing excess production capacity. "If a company suffers from a policy-dependent disease, it will certainly lose the vitality of market competition. Enterprises should rely on the market and strategies to achieve profitability instead of normalizing special policies."

Energy-saving promotion cannot rely on "movement warfare"

Xu Dongsheng, secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, pointed out that “One year of implementation of the energy-saving and people-friendly policy has generally led to a better orientation of product structure adjustment and industrial upgrading.” Take color TV market as an example, the proportion of energy-saving products has reached 90 %the above.

However, with the withdrawal of the subsidy policy, many people began to worry that if there is no sustained policy, will it have a greater impact on consumer electronics consumption? In this regard, researcher Zhao Ping of the Research Institute of Consumer Economics of the Ministry of Commerce believes that after the withdrawal of the subsidy policy, the impact on the home appliance industry will be more apparent. “Industrial stimulus policies did promote sales in the household appliance industry in a short period of time, but at the same time it also led to premature overdrafts of consumer demand, and the entire household appliance industry will inevitably face a situation of 'poor consumption',” said Zhao Ping.

"The long-term implementation of the subsidy policy will make it easy for companies to suffer from 'subsidy dependency'." Zhao Ping believes that, from an international point of view, the subsidy policy at the purchase link is indeed not particularly popular, but subsidy for the purchase of sustainable consumption areas such as energy-saving products is Each country is relatively common.

"The significance of energy-saving subsidies policy is not to promote the short-term growth of market sales, but also to drive the industry to a sustainable direction." Zhao Ping said that from this perspective, it is hoped that more energy-saving subsidies can be introduced as an alternative policy. You cannot rely on short-term "movement wars."

The home appliance industry must rely on upgrading to go out of "dependence"

With the end of the energy-saving subsidy policy on June 1, the home appliance subsidy policy appeared a “vacuum period” and the home appliance industry entered the era of no policy support for the first time. Recently, the Ministry of Finance stated that the next step will be to promote the establishment of a long-term mechanism conducive to the consumption of energy-saving appliances. However, experts predict that the future policy will be adjusted from "short-term stimulus demand growth" to "guided product consumption structure upgrade."

At the end of the energy-saving and benefit-mindedness policy, Midea’s other home appliance mainstream companies and industry associations have put forward suggestions that the policy should not continue. In response, Zhang Yanbin, dean of the Ovid Consulting and Research Institute, believes that “the majority of manufacturers have changed their perceptions of subsidies, reflecting the fact that the home appliance industry is no longer blindly pursuing sales, and instead actively seeks market rules.”

In the view of the industry, the original explosive growth period of China's home appliance industry has passed. In urban and rural areas, the penetration rate of home appliances has been greatly increased, and competition in the industry will be fiercer. Xu Dongsheng believes that "home appliances are durable consumer goods, consumers will not buy two identical products because of subsidies, and the current core task of the home appliance industry is to achieve transformation and upgrade, and to achieve a change in the mode of development." Thus, experts predict that the next In half a year, the market will be in a period of deep adjustment, and the third quarter may return to a low point. It will gradually stabilize from the fourth quarter.

Of course, the country’s support for energy-saving appliances will not change. Xu Dongsheng proposed that the state can set up incentive funds to reward enterprises that develop new technology products. This will help enterprises develop new products and cultivate new markets. It will also help promote energy conservation and emission reduction.

Since the beginning of this year, China’s consumption growth has been showing a trend of gradual upward growth but low speed. According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in the country increased by 12.5% ​​in the first four months, a 2.2 percentage point slower than the same period of last year. Many people in the industry believe that the increase in consumption growth this year is difficult. Liu Shangxi, deputy director of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance, said that financial subsidies are not the best way to stimulate consumption and achieve policy goals. "In the long run, we should do more to reduce taxes and benefit the people in the government. At the same time, we must further improve social security, raise the income of residents, change the unreasonable structure of income distribution, and reduce the worries of allowing ordinary people to spend."

Extended reading

Home Appliances to the Countryside: In December 2008, in response to the global financial crisis, China introduced the policy of home appliances to the countryside, and non-Urban households nationwide purchased color televisions, refrigerators, mobile phones, and washing machines. The products were subsidized at a price of 13% of the product price. , and set the maximum subsidy limit. The policy expired on January 31, 2013.

Home appliance trade-in: In May 2009, the State Council introduced a replacement policy for home appliances. Residents purchased five types of products such as TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and computers. They can trade for the old ones and can give subsidies at 10% of the price of new home appliances. This policy ended on December 31, 2011.

Energy-saving appliance subsidies: In June 2012, refrigerators, air conditioners, water heaters and other five categories of energy-saving appliances to promote the implementation of rules introduced, each energy-saving home appliances subsidies ranging from 100-400 yuan. The policy ended on May 31 this year.