Is the esports chair an IQ tax? The bosses of china's chair industry tell you

Anji County, Zhejiang Province is the hometown of China's chair industry, Anji chair industry has developed for nearly 40 years, statistics show that in 2019, the total number of Anji furniture enterprises exceeded 700, achieving sales revenue of 40.5 billion yuan and accumulated exports of 19.036 billion yuan. One theory is that for every three chairs produced in China, one comes from Anji; for every two chairs exported, one also comes from Anji. Anji chair industry reputation outside for a long time, but the reputation for a long time is limited to the industrial circle, some time ago, because of an e-sports chair, Anji chair industry accidentally "broke the circle". On November 7, the Chinese team EDG successfully won the championship in the League of Legends S11 Global Finals, and domestic gamers rejoiced, so that the e-sports chair became a hit on the whole network during the "Double 11" period this year, and the transaction volume on the e-commerce platform was several times that of the same period in previous years. At the same time, the e-sports chairs produced by Anji have performed well in overseas markets and have become one of the fastest growing export categories this year.

"Last year, our overseas brands made the top 10 on amazon esports chair sales charts in the United States for the first time. This year's ranking has risen further and is now in sixth place. Xue Dong, chairman of Anji Wanbao Smart Home Technology Co., Ltd., told reporters. As of December, the total export volume of enterprises this year has exceeded 300 million yuan. Wanbao Home started with OEM in the early years, and in early 2016, it was involved in the field of cross-border e-commerce, and the export business was doing well. Although last year hit the new crown epidemic head-on, unexpectedly, the home economic boom and home office demand spawned by the epidemic have allowed enterprises to achieve growth against the trend, of which the export growth of e-sports chairs is particularly obvious.

Xue Dong recalled that around 2013, the prototype of the e-sports chair appeared in the Anji industry: "At that time, we called this chair 'racing chair', and the shape design imitated the barrel seats of racing cars and sports cars, and the main selling point was the cool appearance. "Racing chairs didn't make much of a splash in the market, but soon, the domestic e-sports industry ushered in development opportunities. Marked by the decision of the State General Administration of Sport to form an e-sports national team in March 2013, the concept of "e-sports" has gradually become popular and popular among young people. At the same time, the popularity of competitive online games represented by "League of Legends" in China has made an Anji boss with a keen sense of smell see business opportunities - the "e-sports chair" that grafted the concept of e-sports on the basis of the existing racing chair came into being.

Xue Dong laughed and said that to some extent, it can indeed be considered that Anji's chair industry bosses "invented" the e-sports chair. Due to the high degree of transparency within the industry, local chair companies in Anji soon began to test the waters to produce this fashionable new product. With Anji as the source, peers in Guangdong, Henan and other places are also competing to follow suit, and the e-sports chair is gradually becoming a separate furniture category.

More than 80% of the chairs produced by Anji are exported, and the e-sports chairs produced by Anji soon occupy a place in overseas markets, and the response in Europe, america and Southeast Asia is very good. In contrast, the domestic e-sports chair market, in recent years, there have been many brands, with prices ranging from hundreds of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, and the quality is uneven. As e-sports chairs gradually become the "standard" of gamers, e-sports chairs with low-end positioning have become the hardest hit areas of price wars. Anji Poetic Furniture Co., Ltd. began to produce e-sports chairs in 2016, mainly for export business, for this wave of the domestic market, Chairman Zhang Huiqi looked in the eyes, but at the moment chose to wait and see: "Take the e-commerce platform, there is a high probability that it will be forced into the price war whirlpool." ”

There is a consensus within the Anji chair industry that there is not much room for e-sports chairs to expand. In the face of the global high-end market, the main cost-effective Anji enterprises, whether it is development capabilities or brand influence, is not enough; and if it enters the low-end market, it can only continuously reduce profits and participate in price wars. The export business of Anji e-sports chairs also has hidden concerns. Since last year, the prices of commodities and shipping have risen again and again, repeatedly compressing the profit margins of foreign trade enterprises; international shipping has not yet returned to normal, and containers are difficult to find, resulting in a sharp increase in the inventory risk of enterprises. On the whole, the epidemic-derived home economic market is nearing the end, after the hustle and bustle, waiting for the Anji chair industry, may be another round of reshuffle.

The "antidote" may still have to be found in the domestic market. Statistics show that the scale of China's e-sports users has reached 500 million in 2020. Some institutions predict that the e-sports market will exceed 180 billion yuan in 2021 and 215.66 billion yuan in 2022. The huge market volume brings about the imagination space of e-sports chairs and related e-sports extension industries.

Xue Dong had already begun to act. His company has begun to pay more attention to the domestic market, for e-sports hotels, e-sports experience halls and other application scenarios, targeted research and development of more high-end, more professional products. Xue Dong also invested in an e-sports team this year, hoping to use this as a stepping stone to deeply participate in the domestic e-sports field. For this investment, Xue Dong believes that it cannot be regarded as a "cross-border". In his view, the e-sports chair is not furniture, but e-sports equipment: "Just like the keyboard and mouse, our chair is already a part of the e-sports industry." ”