Throughout the development history of air conditioners in the past ten years, with the support of national policies and the improvement of consumers' energy conservation, environmental protection and comfort, inverter air conditioners have gradually developed their development advantages and their market share has continued to increase. According to the data, in the end of 2017, the sales volume of inverter air conditioners reached 46.03 million units, and the market share reached 65.3%. At the end of 2018, the total internal sales volume of inverter air conditioners has reached 57.2 million units, and the market share has increased by 3 percentage points to 68.3%. Right now, fixed-frequency air conditioners are entering the delisting countdown.
The reporter learned from various manufacturers that the new air conditioning energy efficiency standards that have been revised for many years will be officially promulgated at the end of this year and will be implemented from 2020. If the new standard is implemented, it not only means that the fixed-frequency air conditioner faces the fate of being eliminated by the market, and the inverter three-stage energy-efficient air conditioner will also be classified as a non-energy-saving product. Since the back of energy-efficient products relies on technical support, it is clear that the implementation of this new energy efficiency standard will bring a new round of competition and competition in the industry, which will inject new impetus into the development of the industry.
However, these fixed-frequency air conditioners facing delisting and non-energy-saving inverter air conditioners that do not meet the new standards will go in the policy buffer period. We believe that air conditioners that do not meet the new energy efficiency standards will not disappear in the market in a short time. . On the one hand, consumers need to understand a related policy; on the other hand, in the process of many consumers purchasing air conditioners, the cost of purchase still plays an important role.
From the perspective of purchase cost, fixed-frequency air conditioners save money compared to inverter air conditioners in terms of purchase and after-sales service. Fixed-frequency air conditioners are still attractive for rental home users and rural consumers who value the price. Generally speaking, the price of inverter air conditioners is usually 1000-2000 yuan more expensive than fixed frequency! In addition to the difference in purchase cost, most of the refrigerants used for frequency conversion are R410A and R32, and vacuuming is required for installation and maintenance. Therefore, the installation cost of the inverter air conditioner installation is higher than that of the fixed frequency air conditioner. From the perspective of sales channels, some manufacturers will sell these substandard air conditioners through engineering machines or through some e-commerce platforms and social platforms before the implementation of the new standards. Then the question comes, will the rural 456 low-level market become the dumping ground for these non-standard air conditioners?
From the factors of the growth of the air-conditioning market in the past two years, on the one hand, as the weakening of the first- and second-tier market is mainly driven by the replacement of demand, the proportion of air-conditioning sales has shown a downward trend. On the other hand, with the acceleration of urbanization construction, Driven by the continuous prosperity and development of the rural economy, there are more and more purchases of air conditioners for the 3,456 and 6 air conditioners, and there is a huge space for future air conditioners in the rural market. From the perspective of permeability, air conditioners have the property of “one household and multiple units”. The number of households per household can reach two or more. In 2017, the number of air conditioners per 100 households in the country was 96.1, an increase of 5.8% over the previous year. . The penetration rate of air conditioners in rural areas is far lower than that of cities, which is also the reason for the increase in the proportion of third- and fourth-tier markets. According to Zhongyikang's forecast, the retail sales of air conditioners in the third- and fourth-line markets will surpass the first- and second-tier markets in 2019. This shows that the future demand for air-conditioning in the third- and fourth-line markets is huge.
For the upgraded first- and second-tier markets, it is mainly driven by innovative high-end air-conditioning products at the forefront of the times. For the rural market, because the “price” still plays a decisive role in the purchasing factors of consumers, This provides a market sales opportunity for lower-priced fixed-frequency air conditioners and variable-frequency three-stage air conditioners.
In the 2020 cold year, for the air-conditioning manufacturers, on the one hand, the 4, 5 and 6-level rural air-conditioning market is showing a new round of explosive growth. On the other hand, the upcoming national new energy efficiency standard policy is like a sword hanging over the head, always reminding manufacturers to make plans early, and even to digest the air conditioner that is not up to standard, in order to benefit the air-conditioning enterprises in the next Easily participate in market competition in the intelligent track. Based on the above factors, before the implementation of the new energy efficiency policy, many manufacturers may seize the opportunity of rural market growth to sell air conditioners that do not meet the new energy efficiency standards to the rural market of 456 or lower.
Jiangsu Jincheng Air Conditioning Engineering Co., Ltd. focuses on:
Industrial air conditioners, chemical fiber industrial air conditioners, chemical fiber industry refrigeration, textile industry air conditioners, clean room refrigeration, ventilation ducts, cooling towers, refrigeration machines and other air conditioning units and accessories.