South Korean media says the global home appliance industry is experiencing the "rise of China" and South Korean companies are being attacked from both sides

According to Korean media, the "IFA 2017" International Consumer Electronics Show ended in Berlin on September 6 (local time). At the exhibition site, the home appliance industry in China and Japan was thriving. China, a rising star, attracted attention with its further developed technological strength at this international consumer electronics exhibition.

South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo website reported on September 7 that “China’s rise is Japan’s resurrection.”

Compared with previous years, Chinese companies such as Haier, Hisense, TCL, and Changhong, which have grown on the basis of the domestic demand market of 1.3 billion people, have also improved their average level and exhibited more sophisticated new products. China also has an advantage in quantity. This year, more than 650 of the more than 1,600 exhibitors are Chinese companies, accounting for about 40% of the total number of exhibitors. Japan, once known as the "declining home appliance brand", has also made a comeback. Sony exhibited its upcoming 77-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV and new smartphones, and visitors to the booth were endless.

A person related to the domestic home appliance industry in South Korea said, "Sony's main businesses such as televisions have been in a slump in the past few years, and half of the booth was filled with PS game console series. This year, Sony showed signs of regaining confidence from the composition of the booth to the display of new technologies."

Sony, which was once overtaken by Samsung and LG Electronics in the TV market but has been fighting for more than ten years, has seen its performance rebound. In the second quarter of this year, it ranked first (36.1%) in the market share of high-end TVs priced at more than US$1,500 per unit.

The report said that the most impressive booths were Panasonic, which mainly displayed TVs and cameras but also expanded its business with smart home and connected car accessories, and Yamaha, an audio company that was once as popular with European consumers as Sony. There are many competitive small companies in Japan, and many mid-sized and small companies also participated in the exhibition in large numbers this time, showing their strong technical strength.

Although various new technologies can be seen on the super-large booths of Samsung and LG, there are only two companies in South Korea, Samsung and LG. Therefore, facing the quantitative offensive and technological development of competing countries and the "sandwich" of competitive small companies, the two companies look particularly lonely. Of course, South Korea's home appliance industry is not only Samsung and LG. The backbone companies such as Dongbu Daewoo Electronics, Shinil Industry, and DAYOU WINIA have also found the market in the cracks through their technical strength and cost-effectiveness that cannot be underestimated. But compared with large companies, these companies find it difficult to enter the global market and cannot participate in this international consumer electronics exhibition.

South Korean industry insiders said, "In the world market, it is impossible to rely on Samsung and LG forever, so China and Japan are very scary, and South Korea should also have more companies with global competitiveness." In this sense, this international consumer electronics exhibition once again confirmed the need to focus on cultivating competitive small companies.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.