Water heater industry usher in a new turning point in development

From gas, electric water heaters to instant, solar, and air energy water heaters, every fission in the industry has spawned a large number of companies. The industry characteristics of many product categories and engaged in many companies cause the entire water heater market to be highly fragmented and the industry concentration is low, which seriously restricts the development and upgrading of the industry. In recent days, mainstream companies have been involved in cross-sector integration, and the multi-energy modular water heater products have ushered in a new turning point in the water heater industry.

New water heater intensive <br> <br> released on October 20 - November 15 This is less than a month's time, the major giants have released a new water heater. On November 5th, Wanhe released the GAA gas adaptive technology and launched a new product based on this technology. According to Zhong Jialu, general manager of Guangdong Wanhe New Electric Heating Products Division, the new technology is mainly able to meet the needs of domestic water and heating in gas-fired heating and hot water heaters under different gas types, different climates, and different pressures.

Earlier, Wanjia Le launched its first high-end water heater brand smart bath on October 24, and released 6 new smart bath products, including 4 gas water heaters and 2 electric water heaters. In addition, almost the same time, the American water heater brand AO Smith also released new products. In addition, solar water heater pioneer Huang Ming, hot water heater leader Altrang, home appliance carrier Haier also action frequently, in September before and after the release of new water heaters in their respective fields.

In the eyes of industry experts, the focus of water heater companies to release new products reflects the optimistic outlook of the market this year.

In fact, after the domestic water heater industry experienced the dullness of 2011 and the downturn of 2012, it has already turned around in 2013. According to Yikang monitoring data from third-party research institutions, the retail sales of water heaters reached RMB 2025 million in the first three quarters of this year, an increase of 11% year-on-year, and the market scale reached RMB 31.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.5%.

Energy products and more significant trend <br> <br> is worth noting that, with the increasing maturity solar air technology, is developing new water heater energy products from single to multi-energy combined. In the recent new product, there is a multi-energy modular water heater emerging.

In September of this year, Haier launched the first smart home water ecosystem, which can solve the full range of domestic hot water, heating, clean water, and soft water, and achieve high-efficiency, energy-saving and environmental protection through multi-energy. Technologies such as carbon dioxide-cooled air energy technology, wall protection technology, and methane- and carbon monoxide-proof technology are all present in new products.

In addition, Wanhe also launched a multi-energy integrated hot water system. According to reports, the multi-energy integrated hot water system integrates the hot water supply system consisting of a solar hot water unit, a heat pump hot water unit, a gas hot water unit, and an electric hot water unit, and has developed a multi-energy heating system that utilizes central intelligence. The control system can give priority to the use of solar energy and environmental heat sources to achieve energy conservation and environmental protection, and use gas and electricity as supplemental energy to realize healthy and sustainable supply of hot water.

It is understood that although the multi-energy modular water heaters on the market are still not mainstream, the layout of enterprises in this area has already begun. Wanhe Construction's largest domestic production capacity of Wanhe Gaoming New Energy Hot Water Product Production Base was officially put into production in August 2012, with an investment of approximately RMB 400 million. Then in April this year, a phase 1 construction project for a new energy hot water product production base was launched in the Changfeng Shuangfeng Economic Development Zone in Hefei, Anhui Province, with an investment of approximately RMB 300 million. In addition, according to informed sources, in the field of air-energy water heaters and solar water heaters, some companies have invested in multi-energy mix, and it is expected that there will be corresponding products to meet consumers next year.

Energy industry leading integrated or birth <br> <br> along, water heaters and more segments, technical differences between different segments of large cross-border integration led to the water heater business difficult, difficult emergence of a true industry leading enterprises.

With the trend of multi-energy portfolio highlights, in the eyes of the industry, through the integration will be expected to break the previous situation of electric water heaters, gas water heaters, solar water heaters, air energy water heaters, which gave birth to a real industry leader. Hong Shibin, executive chairman of the China Home Appliances Business Association Marketing Committee, said in an interview with the Beijing Commercial Daily reporter that cross-domain staggering and the integration of various types of water heaters will not give birth to new giant companies, but integration will become a necessary threshold for leading companies in the future. Because there are many types of water heaters in today's market, the market share of single-category products can no longer explain what. Only when the entire product category captures the market can it be expected to become the industry leader. The implementation of multi-energy modular water heaters is a good opportunity.

Insiders pointed out that the multi-energy combination will be a major trend in the development of water heaters in the future. The advantage of the energy combination system lies in achieving high-efficiency and energy saving under the premise of ensuring daily use. This is in line with the development philosophy of the country's implementation of green environmental protection, high efficiency and energy conservation. Jia Dongsheng, general manager of China Yikang also pointed out that water heater energy-saving low-carbon, smart comfort, stylish appearance, etc. is the deep needs of consumers, but the existing products on the market in these aspects of performance is relatively inadequate.

At the same time, solar energy, air energy and other new energy and electricity, gas and traditional energy in the integration process of the water heater field should also pay attention to the landing of the product. Hong Shibin believes that water heater companies must be vigilant in the cross-cutting process: First, the products should be adapted, and products should be suitable for consumers regardless of their functions, characteristics, or values. The other thing is that the prices are moderate. To make the product conducive to effective promotion, so that the product value is effectively released. As a result, the water heater industry is expected to usher in a new situation.