CHEAA organized a delegation to visit IFA and investigate European home appliance market in late August to early September 2023. The delegation consisted of over 20 participants from companies across the industry chain, led by Zhu Jun, Vice President of CHEAA and Liu Zhao, Vice Secretary General of CHEAA.
From September 1st to 5th, IFA took place as scheduled, with energy efficiency, low carbon, and sustainable development as the key themes for various brands. Traditional European household appliance brands such as MIELE, LIEBHERR, Bosch, Siemens, AEG, and Electrolux maintained their distinctive style of exhibition but in a simpler way than before. Their showcased products highlighted high energy efficiency, water-saving features, and the use of low carbon materials. Chinese home appliance brands expanded their presence noticeably. Haier, Midea, Hisense, TCL, Changhong, Konka, and Honor showcased their latest products that catered to the European market. Korean companies such as Samsung and LG maintained their exhibition scale. Japanese companies such as SONY and Panasonic, with closed business negotiation areas set up, were not open to the public this time. Overall, IFA shrank in scale compared to pre-pandemic years. Global Markets, which had been moved out of Messe Berlin, came back to it this year. The diverse products from Chinese companies attracted many visitors.
Since CHEAA hadn’t organized a delegation for IFA for three years due to the pandemic, many enterprises hoped to take this opportunity to investigate European home appliance market. The delegation visited multiple home appliance stores in Italy and Germany such as MediaWorld, MediaMarkt, and Unieuro. According to observations from the delegation, products such as hair dryers, hair curlers and straighteners, shavers and massaging appliances are upgraded and iterated at a faster space in China than in Europe. Built-in kitchen appliances are more popular at European market than the Chinese market and are more similar in size and specifications in European market than in the Chinese market. Refrigerators with simple and minimal designs dominate the market. High-end products such as intelligent refrigerators and door-in-door refrigerators can be found in brand zones. Haier’s premium brand Casarte refrigerators were also displayed in retail stores.