Chinese appliances gain acceptance in European market

The booth of TV-maker Konka at the 2014 China Import and Export Fair, which was held in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. China's TV set exports to Europe have picked up in the past few years.ZOU ZHONGPIN/CHINA DAILY

Chinese home appliance brands are expanding into European markets, a report of market research consultancy GfK said on Wednesday.

"China's home appliances market now has a mature industry chain and rising overseas market share. With better quality and performance, Chinese brands should take even more share in the global market," the report said.

The GfK report was based on sales data monitored around the globe, from small kitchen appliances to electronics such as interactive televisions.

The number of TV sets exported to Europe has picked up in the past few years. Qingdao-headquartered Hisense recorded sales of 3.7 million sets in Europe last year and forecast a growth to 6 million sets in 2014. Shenzhen-based Skyworth sold 288,000 TVs in the European market in August, a 40 percent increase year-on-year. And Qingdao's Haier reported 15 percent year-on-year growth in TV sales in the first half of 2014.

Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi are also doing well worldwide, said Alfred Zhou, managing director of GfK China.

"In 2013, smartphones sold in China accounted for some 36 percent of the world's total, and the sales garnered in the domestic market will help provide the leading brands with strong capital to accelerate their sales overseas," said Zhou.

Chinese brands also are taking a record piece of the domestic market, as consumers have rising confidence in their quality and performance, according to GfK.

As much as 80 percent of home appliances sold in China in the first half of 2014 were domestic brands, the report said.

Combined sales of home appliances in China may reach 741 billion yuan ($120.6 billion) in 2014, an increase of 7 percent year-on-year, the GfK report said.

China's home appliance market has developed at a fast clip, the result of expanding urbanization and upgrading of industries as consumers turn to smart and advanced models.

Friedemann Stoeckle, GfK's global lead for home appliances, said Chinese households are transitioning from extended families to smaller, nuclear families, which may mean more demand for home appliances.

"Chinese consumers have greater demand for high-tech, advanced models than consumers of many other countries, and this demand will be the new driver of home appliance sales," Stoeckle said.

In the second quarter of 2014, ultra-high-definition television sets sold in China accounted for 63 percent of world's total. China's small home appliance market grew 17 percent in 2013, while the world average stood at 4 percent.

Air purifiers, coffee makers and personal care appliances are especially popular among Chinese consumers, Stoeckle said.

The nation has become one of world's biggest home-appliance markets, and Chinese consumers have greater demand for high-end products, said Xu Dongsheng, secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.

"Many European brands have strengthened their research and development targeting Chinese consumers. Such demand may also bring more opportunities for domestic brands to upgrade their research and production," Xu said.