China's Microwave Oven Industry: Current Situation, Problems and Future Trends
Recently, the China Consumers Association conducted a comparative test on 20 microwave oven products. This test is like a stone thrown into a calm lake, quickly stirring up a thousand ripples. The test results were really astonishing. Five products under three well - known brands were judged as sub - standard due to the problem of uneven heating.
The so - called heating uniformity project test is an important consideration for the performance of a microwave oven. It mainly detects whether the heating at each point in the oven cavity is uniform, which is directly related to whether the food can be heated evenly in the oven. According to the national standard "The minimum allowable values of energy efficiency and energy efficiency grades for household and similar use microwave ovens" (GB 24849 - 2010), the heating uniformity of a microwave oven with a turntable should be no less than 70%, and that of a microwave oven without a turntable should also reach more than 60%. However, a non - compliant product detected has a heating uniformity of only 36%, far from the national standard. This undoubtedly brings a lot of inconvenience to consumers' use, and there may be situations where some parts of the food are over - heated while some parts are not heated thoroughly.
Once this news was announced, it instantly caught the wide - spread attention of all sectors of society and also prompted people to start thinking deeply about the current development status and future direction of China's microwave oven industry. In dealing with this incident, there were differences in the wording of the statements between the China Consumers Association and the enterprises. The China Consumers Association used the term "meeting the standard" to describe the product situation, while the enterprises emphasized "being qualified". In response to this, Ge Fengliang, the head of the Small Appliance Department of the China National Household Appliance Research Institute, gave an explanation. In the national standards, heating uniformity belongs to the recommended items in the mandatory standards. This means that during the product production process, enterprises are not rigidly restricted by this. Simply put, even if a product does not meet the heating uniformity standard, it cannot be judged as an unqualified product. Because heating uniformity mainly affects the efficiency of the microwave oven and does not harm the product safety.
According to the Standardization Law of the People's Republic of China, mandatory standards must be strictly implemented. Products that do not meet mandatory standards are prohibited from being produced, sold, and imported. Recommended standards, on the other hand, are standards that enterprises can voluntarily adopt according to their own circumstances. Therefore, as a recommended item, the fact that a product does not meet the standard for the heating uniformity of a microwave oven does not mean it is unqualified. Industry insiders who participated in the formulation of microwave oven standards pointed out that there is currently no requirement for the heating uniformity item of microwave ovens internationally. As the world's largest producer and manufacturer of microwave ovens, China has seen a significant reduction in the production scale of foreign microwave ovens. Overall, the quality of microwave oven products in China basically meets the requirements, and all basic indicators also meet the standards.
Xu Dongsheng, the secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, said that there are indeed some disagreements regarding the comparison test results of the China Consumers Association in terms of heating uniformity. Moreover, the experimental method of the China Consumers Association needs to be improved. There may be a certain gap between the data obtained in the laboratory and the indicator data in actual use. Lu Renbo, an expert in home appliance industry (market) research and the deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce, believes that the test results of the China Consumers Association this time reflect two important concepts: one is whether the products meet the quality standards, and the other is whether the products are high-quality products. Judging from the test results, these products all meet the quality standards. However, as leading enterprises in the industry, they should not merely be satisfied with meeting the standards but should strive to make better products. Many of China's home appliance products lack competitiveness in the global market because enterprises are overly satisfied with meeting the standards and lack the spirit of pursuing excellence. Xu Dongsheng also hopes that enterprises can strive for perfection and launch products of higher quality.
However, the microwave oven industry in China is facing a serious problem. That is, the long - term low - price strategy has significantly lowered the value positioning of microwave ovens in consumers' minds. "Low price, low end" has become a prominent label for the domestic microwave oven industry. Looking at the product price distribution in the domestic microwave oven market, low - end machines priced below 499 yuan account for about 50% of the market share, mid - end machines priced between 499 and 999 yuan account for 35%, and high - end machines priced above 1,000 yuan only account for 15%. Lu Renbo pointed out that the microwave oven industry in China has entered the era of oligopoly. From the initial fierce competition among enterprises to the current relatively peaceful coexistence, in addition to foreign brands focusing on the high - end market, many domestic enterprises have gradually been eliminated in the competition. The remaining oligarchic enterprises in the industry pay more attention to pursuing profits, which has affected the product quality to a certain extent. However, Xu Dongsheng believes that the microwave oven industry in China has developed maturely and stably in recent years. Some enterprises are also actively trying to change the situation of single - function microwave ovens through innovation, striving to get rid of the price - competition model and promote industrial upgrading.
With the continuous rise in raw material prices and the ever-increasing labor costs, the development momentum of the small household appliance industry, once regarded as the "golden cheese", is no longer strong, and the microwave oven industry has not been spared. Lu Renbo believes that the problems currently faced by the microwave oven industry are common problems that many industries will encounter when they develop to a certain stage. However, enterprises must never reduce costs and seek development at the expense of product quality. For the microwave oven industry, full market competition is the key to achieving healthy development.
It is worth mentioning that with the wide application of materials and technologies such as LED, microwave ovens have been constantly innovating in heating methods and have also made remarkable progress in terms of user-friendliness and intelligence. Xu Dongsheng pointed out that only by continuously injecting new elements into products, exploring innovation points and enhancing product connotations can enterprises occupy a larger share in the market. The microwave oven has a history of 64 years since its invention, and Chinese brands have only entered this industry for 20 years, but the Chinese microwave oven industry has taken the global lead in terms of production and sales scale and technological level. In 2010, the global production and sales of microwave ovens were about 70 million units, of which about 90% were made in China.
Looking ahead, the development direction of China's microwave oven industry lies in improving product functions and elements to adapt to consumers' new lifestyles and needs. Only in this way can it maintain an edge in the fierce market competition and achieve sustainable development of the industry.