Chinanews.com client, Beijing, February 8 (Zuo Yukun) "I just wanted to buy an electric rice cooker in the past two days. The same item I collected before has now increased by more than 30 yuan."
"I'm still wondering. I wanted to buy air conditioners off-season. The shopping cart added in December last year was up 500 yuan at the end of January."
"Unexpectedly, the TV that I spent more than 4,000 to buy last year would actually be a'bumper'!"
Recently, there have been endless discussions on the price increase of home appliances on social networking sites.
Before and after the Spring Festival, the golden period of home appliance discount sales in previous years, home appliance companies are always busy fighting "price wars". Why did the "rising sound" quietly sounded this year?
A home appliance sales center in Beijing.
Photo by Zuo Yukun, China News Service
When "a piece of rise" meets the "Spring Festival stall"
"It has indeed risen a bit, but now it is not a single company's action. The entire industry is rising." A TV salesperson at a home appliance sales center in Chaoyang District, Beijing, told a reporter from Chinanews.com.
"In fact, the fluctuations reflected in the sales side are not very large, but the increase in the raw material side is already obvious. For example, the most important display screen of our TV, the cost of each component is much higher." He said.
Another TV salesperson concluded that their current price increases for some low-end products are relatively obvious, and the high-end series have not changed much.
"For example, the special machine you could buy for 1400-1500 yuan before, now it needs 2000 yuan, an average increase of several hundred."
"But now the main product in the store is a high-end machine with a label price of 9999 yuan. Instead, it is doing activities at only 9199 yuan. For these high-end line products, it is just a matter of earning less, and it has not hurt the cost. The impact is still Not big," he said.
As the salesperson said, the current home appliance market is in a state of "raising prices while promoting sales".
A refrigerator displayed in a home appliance sales center.
Photo by Zuo Yukun, China News Service
"We now have several models that have increased, but we are mainly engaged in Spring Festival activities. The biggest price cuts of the main models can reach 1,000 yuan." A refrigerator salesperson told Chinanews.com, "but it is estimated that it will be It’s going to go up, and it’s estimated that any money above 5,000 yuan will have to go up more than 500 yuan."
"In fact, we only heard the news, but we have not received any specific price increase notifications." An air conditioner salesperson said that air conditioners are still in anti-season and Spring Festival promotional activities, such as one that sold for 15,000 yuan. The vertical air conditioner is now priced at 13,000 yuan, and one more hang-up is also free.
"A lot of consumers are now concerned about the issue of price increases. In order to avoid everyone's worries, we also promise to insure consumers to'May Day'." The salesperson said.
The data monitored by Aowei Cloud Network also shows the price increase trend: as of December 2020, in the online market, the average price of color TV sets was 2,569 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27%; the average price of air conditioners was 2,947 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%; Prices increased by 10.2 percentage points year-on-year.
In the offline market, the average price of color TV sets was 4,717 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.5%; the average price of air conditioners was 3,837 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9%; the average price of washing machines was also driven by the structural growth of drums.
The price increase
is not sudden
"Yes, it's not a marketing method. It really went up this time. Recently, the price increase announcements sent by major appliance brands to our distributors have been wave after wave." Home appliance dealer Mr. Zhu told Chinanews.com.
It is reported that from the well-known comprehensive home appliance brands to the small home appliance companies specializing in a certain category, almost all have issued price increase notices to dealers.
For example, Midea Group’s price increase notice shows that starting from February 1, 2021, the overall unit prices of hot water products, kitchen products, and operating aquatic products will rise by 4%-10%.
In a notice from Haier on the price adjustment of water heaters, starting from late January 2021, the prices of products will be increased by 5%-20%.
A letter issued by TCL to distributors also clearly stated the price increase: white goods products plan to increase prices across the board, with an increase of 5%-15%...
The price increase notification received by the distributor.
Photo courtesy of respondents
"Actually, it is not the increase in these two days. Someone may feel that the discounts on shopping festivals such as Double 11 last year were not as big as before. It is because the home appliance industry has long been in a price increase trend." Mr. Zhu Say.
Monitoring data from Aowei Cloud Network shows that since the second half of 2020, the prices of domestic appliances of many categories have been on the rise.
Mr. Zhu clearly remembered that a smart TV with an initial price of 4,999 yuan was sold at a price of 4,700 yuan in September last year.
But now, the price of the same TV in the official flagship store has risen to 5,699 yuan, and now the price of 4,700 yuan can't even get the goods.
The price increase will make consumers' wallets nervous, but for dealers, the impact of the price increase is not small.
"In the first quarter, our budget for all aspects of funds totaled about 5 million yuan. When the purchase price is high, the cost of delivery may rise to 6 million or 7 million yuan. In the short term, the pressure on capital turnover will be great."
"Secondly, price increases will inevitably lead to consumer comparisons and entanglements in a cycle. According to past experience, it will be about half a month. Such a window period will also bring us pressure on storage, storefronts, and employee salaries. "Mr. Zhu said.
Will "Rising Voice" stop soon?
Who is behind the price hike of home appliances?
According to the price increase notice announced by the company, the key reason for the price increase of home appliances is the increase in raw material prices.
In a notice previously sent to dealers by Haier Air Conditioning, it directly summarized the reasons for the price increase with several data: copper rose by 30%, iron rose by 30%, plastic rose by 35%, and aluminum rose by 37%. , Stainless steel soared 45%, zinc alloy rose 48%...
The price increase notice received by the dealer.
Photo courtesy of respondents
“For the home appliance manufacturing industry, the cost of raw materials can account for more than 70%.” Xu Dongsheng, vice chairman of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, once said that the home appliance industry has a large demand for copper, aluminum, steel, plastics and other bulk raw materials, and the price of core raw materials The rise will inevitably bring about cost pressures. Under this circumstance, the price fluctuations of some home appliances are also in line with market laws.
Taking electrolytic copper as an example, data from the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the price in late March 2020 was 38474.1 yuan/ton, and by late December 2020, it had risen to 58290 yuan/ton.
Lin Huanyu, chief analyst of Huatai Securities' home appliance industry, analyzed that the main reason for the rise in these raw materials was the overall supply of overseas production capacity.
"Because of the epidemic, overseas production conditions are currently restricted, leading to shortages in the entire logistics and supply chain. Therefore, the shortage of raw materials for home appliances may continue for some time."
The continuous shortage of raw materials means that the price increase of home appliances will not stop in a short time.
How long will the rising trend of home appliance prices continue?
A home appliance sales center in Beijing.
Photo by Zuo Yukun, China News Service
“The increase in the price of bulk metal raw materials is mainly caused by the structural tightness of supply and shipping under the epidemic.” Xu Dongsheng believes that if the domestic and foreign epidemic situation gradually improves in the next few months and the market returns to the right track, fluctuations in bulk raw material prices are expected to normalize. Home appliance prices are also expected to stabilize.
However, from the current point of view, “the price of home appliances may rise even more rapidly after the year.” Mr. Zhu believes, “As far as I have observed, large home appliances are just-needed products for ordinary households. If they are really needed, they are generally not. Short-term price increases will affect their willingness to buy. However, if prices continue to increase, consumers’ overall desire to buy is likely to fade or shift."
Will you take advantage of the Chinese New Year to buy new home appliances?
(Finish)