By going deep into the upstream of the industrial chain, traditional TV brands have accumulated R&D advantages. Zhou Houjian, the former chairman of Hisense Group, once said: "Don't think that the home appliance manufacturing industry is backward, and the Internet is advanced. ”
Author丨Xi Xiangyu
Editor丨Su Jianxun Qiu Xiaofen
With the soaring cost performance model, Xiaomi TV,It is stepping down from the throne of the first shipment volume in the domestic market。
According to Lotu Technology (RUNTO) data, in the domestic market in 2023, Hisense TV shipments will be 8 million units, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%, with a market share of 23%, and Xiaomi TV's shipments will be 7.7 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 11.9%, with a market share of 21.2%.
Since 2019, it topped the domestic market in terms of shipments, and this is the first time that Xiaomi TV has been surpassed by a traditional TV brand.
The reason for the ranking shift,On the one hand, Xiaomi TV's own strategic adjustment,Change from shipment volume to profit margin orientation;on the other hand,Hisense and other traditional TV brands have also launched Internet TV brands,Directly compete with Xiaomi TV for market share。 In addition,Hisense is also relying on self-developed core technology,Sales of high-end products have been further improved。
The ebb and flow of the tide, the rotation of rankings between brands is a normal market phenomenon. However,This happens to be an opportunity to review,It reflects that the cost-effective model that Xiaomi TV relies on is gradually becoming obsolete,And the asset-heavy operation model represented by traditional TV brands,It's time to reevaluate the value。
Stock competition, zero-sum game of TV brands
Television is a stock market. Not only affected by the downturn in the real estate industry, mobile phones are also competing for users' viewing needs. According to data from the Prospective Industry Research Institute, in 2022, the TV start-up rate of Chinese households dropped to less than 30%.
Demand is insufficient, and TV shipments are declining. According to Lotu Technology data, in 2023, the shipment of brand complete machines in the Chinese TV market will be 36.56 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 8.4% compared with 2022.
In the stock market, the common trend is that the industry concentration increases, and small players go out, forming an oligopoly situation. This trend is reflected in the TV market, where the top brands as a whole are still growing. According to Lotu Technology data, in the whole year of 2023, the shipments of the top 4 major TV brands (Hisense, Xiaomi, TCL, Skyworth) will reach 28.89 million units, with a market share of 79%, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%.
Xiaomi TV Source: Visual China
However,There has been a division within the head brand camp,The only Internet player——Xiaomi TV's domestic shipments have been declining in the past three years。 According to Lotu Technology data, from 2021 to 2023, the shipments of Xiaomi TVs will be 9 million units, 8.84 million units, and 7.7 million units respectively. And Hisense, a traditional TV brand that used to be second in the past, has shipped from 7 million units in 2021 to 8 million units in 2023.
One trades off the other,The cost-effective model of Xiaomi TV is starting to look outdated。 Regarding what is the cost-effective model,Lei Jun gave an example in the book "Xiaomi Entrepreneurial Thinking":2019At a dinner,NetEase founder Ding Lei asked Lei Jun if he could make a batch of 100-inch large screen TVs。 At that time, the minimum of similar products was more than 100,000 yuan,If Xiaomi can reduce the price to50,000 yuan,NetEase will install Xiaomi TV in the conference room。
After calculation,Xiaomi TV department found98Inch TV meets the requirements,BOM(material)The cost is about 25,000 yuan。 In March 2020, this Redmi 98-inch large-screen TV was launched at a price of 20,000 yuan. In the second half of 2020, monthly sales of this product reached 5,000 units. Due to the large increase in sales, the comprehensive cost decreased, "the cost was fully flattened that year, and there was a small profit." ”
This is the cost-effective model that Xiaomi hopes to express - relying on scale effect, reducing hardware costs, and then making profits through subscription services.
But in reality, it is difficult for Xiaomi TVs to get rid of the low price tag. According to Aowei cloud network data,2023In China's online market,The average price of Xiaomi TV is1925element,Far lower than Hisense(3433element)、TCL(4130element) andSKYWORTH(2798element)。
Low prices themselves are not a long-term barrier, and competitors cut prices even harder. 2021year,Hisense re-released its Internet TV brandVidda,The goal is to be"The first good TV for young people。 HisenseViddaIt also adopts a low-price model,Launched a variety of 100 yuan-level TV products,Directly compete with Xiaomi TV。
HisenseVidda replicates the growth rate of Xiaomi TVs。 According to Lotu Technology data, in 2023, Hisense Vidda shipments will reach 2 million units, doubling compared with 2021.
Hisense TV Source: Visual China
"The linkage effect between the Hisense brand and the sub-brand Vidda and Toshiba is very good. Especially under the premise of the weak market, Vidda's sales last year also grew steadily. Wang Xianming, an analyst at Lotu Technology, said.
The cost-effective model is suitable for grabbing market share, but relying only on the cost-effective model cannot support the industry giants for a long time. Xiaomi TV has reached the moment when it must be high-end transformation。
Wang Xianming said,2023year,Xiaomi TV's strategy will change from market share-oriented to high-end and profit-oriented,Focus on75、86and98Inch and other giant screen products promotion,At the same time, promote the equipping of technologies such as Mini LED to achieve the transformation from volume to profit。
Transformation and upgrading, traditional brands have more advantages
"Hisense's surpassing Xiaomi is the result of a significant lead in product power and brand power. Liu Buchen, an analyst in the home appliance industry, told 36Krypton,In the past few years, Xiaomi TV has performed brilliantly in the domestic market,To a large extent, the price is much lower than that of peers,"In terms of the product itself,Xiaomi does not have a substantial advantage。 ”
In the stock market, TV brands need to find new growth points. On the one hand, TV screens are getting bigger and bigger. According to Lotu Technology data, the highest-selling TV size in China in 2023 will be 65 inches, followed by 75 inches. The combined market share of the two reached 41.5%, accounting for half of the TV market.
On the other hand, TV display technology is also being upgraded. In the domestic market in 2023, the sales of Mini LED TVs will reach 920,000 units, a year-on-year increase of more than 140%. Compared with the traditional LCD (liquid crystal display), Mini LED display technology with higher brightness and better picture quality has become a new selling point of TV.
In terms of transformation and upgrading, traditional TV brands that have mastered core technology have more advantages.
The panel is the core component of the TV, which determines the TV screen size and display technology. According to TrendForce's research report, TV panels account for 45-60% of the total production cost of TV sets.
In the course of decades of growth, traditional TV brands have established close cooperation with upstream panel manufacturers. TCL has invested a total of 260 billion yuan to build its own semiconductor display company-TCL Huaxing;Hisense does not have its own panel factory, but it also has technical accumulation in display chips, backlight modules and other related core components.
LCD factory Source: Visual China
By going deep into the upstream of the industrial chain, traditional TV brands have accumulated R&D advantages. TCL focuses on Mini LED technology, while Hisense has launched ULED TVs that use other technical routes, as well as laser TV products. According to Hisense's video financial report, in the first half of 2023, in China's offline high-end market, Hisense's share of TV retail sales will reach 36.4%, an increase of 5.7 percentage points year-on-year.
In his 2023 annual speech, Lei Jun said that the competition in the consumer electronics industry is extremely fierce, and only by doing high-end can Xiaomi be forced to seek breakthroughs in technology and win space for survival and development in the future. "High-end is not a question of whether we want to do it or not, but the only way for Xiaomi's development, and it is a battle of life and death. ”
Back in 2014, Xiaomi TV was just released for a year. In the face of LETV TV、The repeated impact of Xiaomi TV,Zhou Houjian, former chairman of Hisense Group, told the media,Xiaomi saves the cost of manufacturing,But it also sacrifices the profit of this link。 Internet companies and traditional manufacturing enterprises are inseparable from each other, "Don't think that the home appliance manufacturing industry is backward, the Internet is advanced." ”
In the fact that Hisense TV overtook Xiaomi,The value of manufacturing,Highlighted again。