With the increasingly fast pace of modern life, more domestic consumers are seeking to reduce time spent on household chores. Smart consumer appliances are thus growing in popularity among local households, with more Wi-Fi connected products that allow for remote control being introduced. Refrigeration appliances, home laundry appliances, air treatment products and rice cookers are becoming more available, represented by Samsung “Family Hub” fridge freezer, Midea “i+” smart air conditioners and Joyoung One Cup Q6 Soymilk Maker.
Manufacturers are making efforts to develop their own smart technology platforms, such as M-Smart from Midea Group and U Home from Haier Group. As these smart platforms are not interchangeable or compatible, they are inconvenient for consumers who have purchased products from different manufacturers.
Outlook
As the different smart technology platforms developed by consumer appliance producers are closed systems, they can only be seamlessly connected with consumer appliance products from the same company. To accelerate the use of smart technology across different platforms, more semi-closed systems such as Smart Home by Samsung and U+ by Hair, as well as third-party platforms like Smart Living from Alibaba Group, are expected to be promoted. As a result, it will increasingly be possible to connect smart appliances of different brands to one platform and allow for convenient remote control by consumers.
In addition, small manufacturers, which are not capable of developing their own smart technology platforms, are also looking to jump on the smart appliance bandwagon, with their semi-closed or third-party platforms providing more diversified choices to consumers.