Technological Innovations Coupled with Concentrated Competition in Japan Large Appliances Market: Ken Research

Large appliances are basic household electrical appliances used in everyday life to have better living and working experience. These appliances include air conditioner, refrigerator, washing machine, and television. Large appliances are a very dynamic market and continuous innovation is required to make the products more economical and user friendly. Over the years, demand of large appliances has decreased as it is mainly driven by replacement demand which has declined. Urbanization in Japan was more than 93% in 2015.

Growth in demand will be mainly from replacement of old products. Improvement in quality, energy saving appliances, smart home technology and changing consumer preferences will drive the sale in future. Many household which benefitted from the government subsidy program associated with electric power conservation in 2012 will create demand for replacement product in near future. Market entry for new players especially those which can offer price competitive quality products are possible. Issues like dependence on certain products and clients, strategic alliance, technological innovation and intellectual property rights are cause of major concerns for domestic companies operating in Japan large appliances market.

New technologies are emerging at very fast level and companies are not even able to monetize on the money spent on R&D, product launch production and marketing. The market is subjected to imitation risk which is very fast in the industry. Rival companies launch product in similar categories and technologies within gap of days. Intense competition from price and marketing perspective may impact the company’s revenue and investments made to win against such competition are not always guaranteed.

Japan large appliances market has showcased a decline in the recent years due to saturation of the market and growing preferences for the most technologically advanced appliances. The market for large appliances in Japan is concentrated with large players which have domestic as well as international presence namely Daikin, Toshiba, and Panasonic, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Sharp and others. Some of the major players have also thought of taking an exit from Japan market due to declining existing profitable opportunities in the market. The companies are also striving to cut down the production costs for which they have shifted their production base to China to enjoy lower production costs.

The market for television is dominated by Sharp, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sony. Sharp is the first company in Japan which has launched 8K TV in Japan. In Japan Panasonic offers 4K, Full HD and UHD in screen size suitable for all age group and income. Sony and Sharp have consistently increased their CAPEX to enhance production capacity with a focus on new product developments to meet changing consumer preferences.

The report titled “Japan Large Appliances Market Outlook to 2020 – Growing Preference for Technologically Innovated Products and Robust Replacement Demand to Shape Future” provides brief overview on the China Large Appliances Market and helps readers to identify the ongoing trends in the market and anticipated growth in future depending upon changing market dynamics in coming years. The report will help existing distributors, manufacturers along with end users in large appliances division to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in the future.

Topics Covered in the report