Song Yicong
As the pace of the "Internet of Everything" gets closer and closer, we may find that almost every product related to "electricity" around us is more or less related to "net" and "intelligence".
In the past, computers were computers, televisions were televisions, cameras were cameras... Each of them will do their duty and will not interfere with each other. Today, you pick up a random thing at hand, and 20 years ago, it may seem like a secret weapon in the 007 movie: it looks like a watch, it can actually make phone calls; it looks like a phone, it can actually watch movies and make videos; it looks like a TV set, and it can actually control the lights, air conditioning, and curtains of the whole family...
This is somewhat psychedelic. Perhaps, as Arthur Clark said, any technology that is advanced enough is no different from magic.
So the question is, when a product can concentrate the functions of countless products in the past, will the entire 3C industry become more and more narrow? For example, when a smartphone can take pictures, take videos, watch movies, play games, order takeout... So do I need a camera? Do you still need a TV and a movie theater? Do I still need a game console?
Judging from the development of the industry in recent years, the answer is of course yes. The emergence of multi-functional products such as mobile phones has indeed eliminated some of the demand, but the remaining part of the demand has played a role in promoting the continuous segmentation of the market and the mining of functions. In other words, today's 3C industry is becoming more and more "fine" in response to different needs.
Going up is about the imagination of lifestyle
If you pay attention to these AWE exhibitions or CES exhibitions, it is not difficult to find that the main high-end home appliances 3C products are emerging. From Haier's successful Casarte, to Midea's COLMO and AEG introduced as a joint venture with Electrolux, to Maxvis's acquisition of Metz TV, all of them have brought endless imagination to the high-end home appliance market.
In August 2018, Hisense, which was very successful in the European market, officially completed the acquisition of European home appliance giant Gorenje, which also provided an opportunity for its high-end home appliance brand ASKO to enter the Chinese market.
Founded in 1918, the ASKO brand's minimalist design style and artistic sense derived from Northern Europe make its products unique in the high-end home appliance market. ASKO's main products are washing machines and dryers, and the current product line also includes white appliances such as refrigerators, ovens, and wine cabinets, which are expensive, but the design and quality are also extraordinary. After entering China, they used two press conferences to fully clarify the core values of high-end brands in the home appliance industry, which is the imagination of lifestyle.
One launch was at the 2021 AWE Show. ASKO products are indeed refreshing on the spot: the laundry room embedded in the wardrobe, the large-capacity refrigerator integrated into the cabinet and the three-zone independent temperature control, and the wine cabinet that automatically recognizes the wine label, all of which depict a new way of life for consumers in a wordless way. ASKO also invited a Michelin chef to cook Nordic classic food for visitors on the spot, using the most direct way to make this lifestyle "intimate contact" with consumers.
ASKO's launch highlighted the combination of Chinese classical style and modern lifestyle
Another press conference was the launch of the ASKO Classic 9kg laundry series in September. ASKO will be held at the Yangyun Aman Hotel on the outskirts of Shanghai – a luxury hotel with "water and clouds to raise lakes, mountains and clouds to raise rooms", and the ancient trees and old houses moved from the Ming and Qing dynasties in Jiangxi are combined with modern style, and also form a wonderful contrast and harmony with the modern home appliances displayed here.
At the scene, ASKO also invited well-known lifestyle blogger Myways and chief architect, founder of STUDIO QI Architects, international emerging architects and artist Qi Shanshan to hold a dialogue and share their understanding of modern home life and space design aesthetics.
Why can the price of products with similar functions differ by several times? Are those features that look extremely subtle really worth so much of a premium? These questions may be often challenged by high-end home appliance brands, but the answer may lie in the "lifestyle".
Go down and grasp the youthfulness and intelligence
In the 3C industry, another trend that is visible to the naked eye today is that there are more and more products for young people, and the quality is getting better and better. This is mainly manifested in two aspects, the first is that low-cost products also have enough functions and good enough design; the second is that smart products are more targeted, especially for the needs of young people's lives.
The easiest brand to think of is naturally Xiaomi. Since its inception in 2010, Xiaomi's products have been "cost-effective" and "young" as the killer. Xiaomi not only pulled down the overall price level of the smartphone industry, but also single-handedly established the Xiaomi ecological chain, which will pull down the prices of various products from water purifiers to televisions, from weight scales to go-karts, and on this basis, it can also ensure that the design and quality of products are maintained at a certain level.
Skyworth A20 Pro is fully aimed at the young people's market
Skyworth, which started as a traditional TV brand, takes another way of getting close to young people. At the autumn new product launch on September 23, Skyworth released four new TV sets at the same time, of which the new flagship A20 Pro of the Ablaze series is an extremely "pleasing" product for young people. Its 4K 120Hz original color hard screen + 4K 120Hz decoding + 4K 120Hz MEMC + 4K 120Hz HDMI2.1 transmission configuration, accurately sniping the biggest demand of young people for TVs: playing console games and watching high-definition video. Both the PS5 and the XBOX Series X require the TV to reach the level of 4K 120Hz, which has become a "hard indicator" when they buy a TV. Skyworth claims that this is a TV that "understands young people", not only these hard standards can not be less, but also enables it to connect PCs, cast screens, use JBL tuning, the price is also set in a very reasonable position, from the market feedback point of view is indeed very successful.
Going left and going right are new opportunities for small markets
Nowadays, there are many product segments, which were not originally there. These markets don't look big, but in fact the opportunities inside may be really not small.
One of them is the Bluetooth music headset. It can be said that before 2016, although there were sporadic products appearing in Bluetooth music headphones, this market basically did not exist, and the mainstream Bluetooth headphones on the market at that time were basically used for calls, and there was only one ear. One thing that happened that year was the launch of Apple's iPhone 7. The iPhone7 eliminated the headphone hole for the first time, so that most of the wired headphones on the market had to go through the adapter to connect to the phone. Is there a more convenient way? Of course, there is, is to buy a pair of Apple's wireless Bluetooth headset AirPods launched at the same time as the iPhone 7. This almost "bundled sales" method of course has attracted a lot of scolding to Apple, but objectively with Apple's strong appeal, the category of Bluetooth music headsets has shown explosive growth.
AirPods Pro allows consumers to experience the surprise of Bluetooth music headphones
Until today, the cancellation of the headphone jack has become the "standard" of almost all high-end smart phones, and Bluetooth music headphones have become the standard for almost all office workers and business travelers. Apple's Airpods series still has a strong voice in this market, but there have never been many challengers. For example, the Two Headphones of Motif A.N.C and Minor III launched by British rock brand Marshall Headphones have unique personality charm.
Motif A.N.C has launched a Chinese limited edition in conjunction with trend brand DOE
Marshall's signature pebbled leather pattern design makes the two headphones look very different in appearance, with The Motif A.N .C active noise cancellation, while the MinorIII does not have an in-ear design and is a little lower priced. From the product level, it is clear that Motif A.N.C benchmarked the AirPods Pro, while the Minor III is aimed at the AirPods, and if young people are a little tired of Apple's design, then the personality marshall may become their choice.
Another market may be smaller, but also more interesting – and that's the fitness mirror. This product, which looks like an ordinary floor mirror, is actually a smart device with a large mirror screen. When the system is turned off, it is an ordinary mirror, but when it is turned on, it can display the corresponding interface and play related videos. At present, the most well-known brand of domestic fitness mirrors is FITURE, and its core selling point is motion capture, which can accurately sense the user's movements in front of the mirror; the other is its rich coaching courses, which use special coaches and original fitness courses, which allow users to practice with the coach at home and get the guidance of the coach at any time. However, the price of the fitness mirror is not cheap, and its follow-up courses will be paid separately, and its prospects remain to be seen.
Editor-in-Charge: Chen Hua
Proofreader: Yan Zhang