Advantages and disadvantages of home appliance subsidies

On June 1, 2012, the State Ministry of Finance launched a subsidy policy for energy-saving appliances. The promotion period is tentatively set at 1 year. This is another step after the “home appliances to the countryside” and home appliances “renewal”. According to the policy, consumers can purchase energy-efficient appliances of corresponding models and enjoy national energy efficiency subsidies. Among them, each TV subsidy is 100 to 400 yuan, air-conditioning subsidies are 180 to 400 yuan, refrigerator subsidy is 70 to 400 yuan, and water heater subsidy is 100 to 600 yuan.

There is no clear message from the management team as to whether the energy-saving subsidy policy will continue after expiration. Xu Dong, secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said in an interview with the media before his birthday: “When the policy is formulated, the period of confirmation is one year. At present, there is no news that any policy will continue.” But the reporter learned from the interview that Compared with the expiration of the previous two major subsidy policies, more and more companies have clearly stated that they no longer wish to continue the subsidy policy. "The free competition in this market should be given to the market."

Energy-saving people have achieved remarkable results

According to China Yikang research data, the 2012 energy-saving and human-friendly project policies led to the promotion of 32.7 million high-efficiency and energy-saving appliances, stimulating consumer demand of 115.4 billion yuan. According to the monitoring data of AVC, the implementation of color TV energy-saving policies has resulted in an average television unit price of 115 yuan, and a 5% contribution to the price of terminals.

Liu Wei, general manager of Ovid Consulting's plate division, said that the second month after the implementation of the subsidy policy, that is, July 2012, the flat panel TV energy efficiency index has greatly improved. As of February 2013, the LCD TV energy efficiency index has reached 1.94 from 1.67 before the implementation of the policy, and products with an energy efficiency index of 1.9 to 2.1 have a higher market share. At the same time, with the gradual implementation of energy-saving subsidies, China's flat-panel TVs have continued to rise in energy efficiency, and the price difference between subsidized products and non-subsidized products has narrowed rapidly. As of February 2013, the difference between the two has been reached. 6.2 yuan. This shows that the energy-saving subsidies have a positive effect on color TV products and the sales market, which not only promotes the adjustment of market energy-saving product structure, but also stimulates the large-scale sales of energy-saving products in the social environment, national economy, corporate profits, and consumer lifestyle habits. All have achieved the desired results.

It is reported that since the implementation of the policy, energy-saving products have become the main product of most home appliance stores. Air-conditioners, TVs, refrigerators, and many other home appliances have obvious energy-saving subsidies. According to industry sources, air-conditioning, washing machines, refrigerators, televisions and other energy-saving products have occupied more than half of the industry in the industry, and some brand companies have higher energy-saving products. However, after the energy-saving policy expires, consumers may have to spend a few hundred dollars more to purchase the same energy-saving product.

Recently, the reporter visited Suning, Gome and other home appliances stores, found that refrigerators, air conditioners, color TVs and other home appliances, energy-saving subsidies products are the main sales. “I enjoyed energy-saving subsidies last year and it is still relatively affordable.” Mr. Jiang, the consumer, calculated an account for the reporter. He bought TVs, refrigerators, and water heaters and other appliances, and paid less than 1,000 yuan through energy-saving subsidies.

Air conditioning manufacturers: subsidies do not have to continue

Fang Hongbo, chairman of Midea Group, was recently invited as a representative of the company to participate in the first session of the government's first economic situation experts and corporate leaders forum. At the meeting, he said bluntly: "The home appliance subsidy policy should not be implemented for a long time."

Fang Hongbo stated that the home appliance subsidy policy began in the financial crisis in 2008, and at that time it really helped the industry tide over the difficulties. However, these policies should not be implemented for a long time. Ultimately, they should promote the development of the industry through the force of the market and force the transformation and upgrading of the company. Otherwise, the company is vulnerable to "subsidy dependence."

Compared with Gree and Midea, Zhigao is not a first-line enterprise, but it has benefited from the promotion of energy-saving air-conditioning in the last round of air-conditioning energy-saving subsidies. In 2009 alone, it received subsidies for energy-saving air-conditioning up to 230 million yuan. Yuan has provided important support for the performance increase. Surprisingly, Zheng Zuyi, chairman of Chigo Air-Conditioning Co., Ltd., made clear in the face of media interviews that "subsidy policy should come to an end." His explanation is that the round of energy-saving subsidies in 2009 had promoted the transformation of the air-conditioning industry into energy-saving products. At present, energy-saving air-conditioners have occupied the absolute mainstream in the market. “Re-subsidization is equivalent to full subsidies, and the significance is not great. ".

Experts: Long-term subsidy may excessively overspend household appliances

Liu Heqing, a researcher with a long-term focus on the home appliance industry, was an active promoter of home appliances to the countryside, but now he has also joined the opposition camp. He told the China Economic Herald reporter that although the subsidy policy has promoted the sales of home appliances, it has caused a significant overdraft for the home appliance market to a large extent. “Because the consumption cycle of household appliances that belong to durable consumer goods is usually in 5 to 8 years, buying in advance means that it will not be bought in the future for a long time. The home appliance subsidy policy actually disrupts the inherent consumption cycle of the home appliance industry to some extent. ”

The side effect of this is that some manufacturers will blindly expand their production capacity when the market is good, and once consumption shrinks, it will cause the supply and demand to get out of control, which may have a greater impact on the industry.

Liu Heqing also believes that a single "energy-saving subsidies" will easily lead the air-conditioning industry to simply move around this "baton" instead of developing new products for consumers from multiple angles.

In addition, experts pointed out that since the implementation of the energy-saving subsidies policy, all sorts of deceiving voices have “one after another”. “The main reason is that shoddy products appear in the market and low energy efficiency is used to impersonate energy-efficient products. Moreover, consumers cannot intuitively distinguish the merits of home appliance products, and it is impossible to bring over one hundred million units of household electrical appliances to one station for testing. This excessive cost is impossible.” Lu Jiebo, deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce, told the China Economic Herald reporter: “In addition, some companies use users’ misunderstanding of technology and use distorted ideas to guide consumers to The quality standards of the products are at a loss, which has led to the impact on the sales of products that are devoted to R&D. However, malicious marketing companies have benefited. This is in essence disrupting the market economic order and is not conducive to the overall development of domestic industries."

“In addition to this, there have been some online merchants selling 'energy efficiency logos' since last year. These logos are self-adhesive materials and can be printed with specific vendor information, and energy efficiency levels, content, etc. can be freely ordered. The energy-saving subsidy policy can continue, and the enforcement of the supervision department needs to be further improved.” Lu edge wave said.

Air-conditioning companies should focus on improving their own product quality

In the interview, the reporter also noticed that, behind the change in the concept of subsidy of most manufacturers, the reality is that the air-conditioning industry is no longer blindly pursuing sales. Instead, it actively adjusts its product structure and pays more attention to high-performance products. It is understood that last year was recognized as the "disaster year" in the domestic air-conditioning industry. Domestic air-conditioner sales and sales fell nearly 30% year-on-year, and the air-conditioning industry's inventory was as high as 18 million, a record high. This has prompted domestic air-conditioning companies to begin to change their business ideas. Instead of simply chasing sales, they are pursuing high value-added products that can bring more practical benefits. Panasonic has always been the largest selling foreign air-conditioning brand on the Chinese market, but Yang Jun, deputy general manager of Panasonic Air-Conditioning, recently stated that they have no growth plans for sales targets this year, but it is only flat with last year. He said that last year's inventory will make the company more pragmatic this year, no longer blindly pursue sales, but the pursuit of high value-added products that can bring benefits.

This reporter learned that, in fact, many domestic air-conditioning companies will be adjusted this year as "adjusted year" and no longer make excessive growth plans. The reporters from Gome and Suning recently released this year's air conditioning trend forecast also saw that new air conditioners with PM2.5 removal, air purification, negative oxygen ions and other functions will become the mainstream of this year's market, and these high value-added products are no doubt manufacturers The profits are even greater. Li Juntao, senior vice president of Gome, said that in the past, ordinary air conditioners, which were used as manufacturers to “sell sales,” may account for only about 40% of the share this year.