Chinese brands march on European TV & DA market

The disruption caused by Chinese brands within mobile has been rapid and fascinating to watch, in part due to the lack of realisation or preparation for their success by the rest of the mobile market. TV & DA (domestic appliances) will soon have their own Chinese brands to contend with, and hopefully have learnt the lesson from mobile that complacency is a hazardous strategy. Anticipating change, being prepared to respond quickly and making good decisions based on sound insight is essential.

In Spain, in just the last 6 months, Hisense grew another 1% in refrigeration and accounted for nearly 4% of all refrigeration purchases. If we look at the same period for TV in Spain, Hisense grew 3.1% to account for 5%.

Using Worldpanel ComTech’s global data and its knowledge across all technology brands and sectors, Piers Moore, Global Account Director at Worldpanel Division, Kantar, comments: “Hisense are moving into Europe in a very similar pattern to Huawei. Firstly, Hisense have proven themselves in markets that might be considered in their ‘backyard’, such as Australia. Second move has been to establish a foothold in Southern European markets, offering a strong product at a price point that undercuts the more premium and traditional brands. It’s highly likely that they will look to capitalise on early success by looking to grow share in markets which skew more to premium appliances and therefore higher margins and eventually move into the ‘premiumisation’ stage. This is the final stage of brand evolution for new brands entering new markets who want to establish themselves. As consumers become naturally more comfortable with the brand, they are willing to spend more on the appliance and the brand is more comfortable putting out a more premium appliance. This snowball effect means that the brand will start to move up through the spend tiers and become more premium.”

In the last 12 months a third of all consumers who purchased a Hisense product across Europe believe it offered them the best value and one in five were recommended the brand in-store. This again mirrors Huawei’s key purchase drivers. Piers Moore continues: “A vital part of Huawei’s march on Europe was the retail armada they sent to persuade consumers at the point of purchase. Being recommended in-store was incredibly important to Huawei’s growth and we are now seeing Hisense being supported in the same way. Relative to the number of consumers who have purchased a Hisense, we see a heavy over-index for being recommended in-store – also making it a key touch point for them.”

Over the same period a tenth of all consumers who purchased a Hisense product were influenced by their friends and families positive experience with the brand, according to Kantar’s data. Piers Moore, concludes: “Being recommended a brand by friends or family helps a potential customer feel more confident in their purchase, as they feel reassured that they will be supported by their social group for making that purchase, and as confidence in the brand grows, so does spend”.