Smart home major brands competing card position, the structure of loose unity is not high

Guide: This year, during the national two sessions, the concept of "Internet +" first appeared in the government work report, and Internet companies have infiltrated the appliance enterprises have looked at the smart home.

During the national two sessions this year, the concept of "Internet +" appeared in the government work report for the first time, and the appliance enterprises infiltrated by Internet enterprises have turned their eyes to the smart home, smart home at the beginning of this month in China's home appliances Expo also become the biggest bright spot. Large household appliances manufacturers pull the Internet Enterprise Alliance, small and medium-sized household appliances manufacturers display smart home single products. But behind this is the smart home market for each brand in order to card their own melee situation, the industry does not have a unified standard, poor product experience.

-Industry Status

Each big brand competes for the card position

At the moment, the major appliance manufacturers are busy pulling internet companies Alliance, but, according to reporters, this alliance is not strong.

Haier + Ali + the Charm family structure is loose

2013, Alibaba 2.2 billion yuan strategic investment Haier; last month, Ali 590 million dollar strategy shares the charm family. Three have formed alliances based on capital ties and announced that they will work together to build smart ecosystems into the smart home sector. It seems to be the most reliable combination, Haier is China's largest home appliance enterprise, responsible for manufacturing and logistics; Ali is the largest Internet enterprise, responsible for system and background data, and the Phantom mobile phone can be used as an entrance to smart home.

But this is the most optimistic about the alliance, its structure is relatively loose. Haier since last year has been carving a smart home platform called U+, has been with Baidu, Beijing East, 360 and other Internet enterprises have reached a cooperation agreement. At the same time Haier also joined the Apple-driven smart home platform--homekit, and the platform is the only Chinese home appliance enterprises. During this year's home expo, Haier launched the u+ platform seven intelligent ecological applications, including washing, water, air, food, health, safety, entertainment. This only entertainment part of the presence of Ali's figure, is Haier Ali intelligent TV. And Ali this side also, in the love after Haier, at the same time with the United States air-conditioning and Skyworth, Konka, Changhong and so on to maintain the ambiguous, want to pull them into their own smart home system.

Beauty of the + millet individually

At the end of last year, Millet 1.2 billion yuan in the United States, the two sides announced at the time of business cooperation in the direction of the intelligent home area, but vague.

In fact, from the beginning of last year, the United States on the drastic change to smart home manufacturers, announced that in three years will produce products upgraded to smart home appliances, and invest heavily in the development of smart home platforms and systems. and millet to smart home market enthusiasm is obvious, from mobile phones, TV to router products, intelligent home entrance layout is perfect. But at home, the United States announced its research and development of M-smart Smart Home platform will be fully open, and for the entire industry to launch a unit price of only 10 Yuan intelligent module, home appliances products have the module can be interconnected. The problem is that smart modules and low prices are two things that millet is better at.

In addition, the United States and millet have their own smart home app, together with the United States chairman Fang Hongbo and Millet chairman Lei are very little mention of mutual business cooperation, the outside world that two may still need to running-in. The United States has a wealth of home appliance product line, and Millet has a young user group, two should strengthen in the smart home appliances market synergy.

360+ Gree Potential Combination

This combination is still in the speculative phase and is a potential combination.

360 at home Fair during the solo exhibition, showing the cooperation with the Ox intelligent air-conditioning, and TCL cooperation with the air purifier, and the boss of the electrical cooperation of the Lampblack machine and other intelligent products, as well as their own smart home solutions. 360 also said that this year will be invested in tens of billions of funds to jointly have the potential of the enterprise layout smart home market. And 360 of a gossip object is the air conditioner industry boss Gree. At the end of last year, millet investment in the United States, the market is rumored that Gree intends to join forces 360. Gree Chairman Mingzhu in the two sessions during this year's 360 Beijing headquarters and Zhou talks, which led to the outside world about the formation of the alliance between the speculation. The latest news is that Mingzhu has shown gree mobile phones, Gree said the mobile phone is to make smart home entrance.

Jingdong Mall playing alone

Compared with the above camp and potential portfolio, Jingdong decided to play its own in the smart home market.

At home, Beijing East also decorate their own smart home experience museum, and pulled up broadlink such as the Beijing-east platform to nurture and invest in intelligent home system solutions enterprises. Jingdong in the smart home market play is to use the advantages of sales channels, household appliances and other hardware enterprises to pull into their own jd+ intelligent platform, while using the platform to cultivate intelligent hardware enterprises, such as red fire for a moment of "three dad" air purifier.

-Market Research

Product problem multi-user experience poor

The lack of intelligent home industry standards leads to the inability of intelligent single products to interconnect, which brings poor experience to users. At the same time, the high price of products in the consumer block outside the door.

Lack of uniform standards

These mentioned several camps have their own smart home platform and access standards, even if it is declared open to the outside, each for the card will not be active access to each other's platform. At the beginning of March, Millet Chairman Lei appealed to the relevant departments of the State to set up the unified standard of smart home industry as soon as possible, because the lack of standards has become the bottleneck of the development of the emerging industry, and caused waste of resources.

Lei said, because the consumer to the smart home diversity, personalized and differentiated market demand, leading to the various manufacturers of technical routes, communication protocols and standards of use is very large and different. In the absence of uniform industry standards, different areas, different enterprises between the individual, the system, smart home products of all kinds, it is difficult to achieve system compatibility, information sharing and interoperability, to bring great trouble to consumers. In fact, there is no uniform standard for smart home in the international market.

An internet technology personage says, generally speaking, standard refers to technical standard, is the communication protocol between intelligent home equipment, this is in order to realize the "concatenation" of multiple devices, the technical standard does not exist in essence good or bad. However, because of the diversity and incompatibility of communication protocols, the equipment "fragmentation" between different protocols is aggravated, and each can work independently but separate from each other, which makes it difficult to interconnect. Even if the device can be connected to the WiFi module interconnection, but the user's use of the data deposited by the habit can not be gathered together to analyze, then this intelligent home life is still "fragmented." Users can interact with a single smart device, but not with the overall home environment, which can only be called smart home appliances and can not be called smart home.

Poor user Experience

One of the inevitable consequences of the unification of standards is the poor user experience.

Work in Hangzhou small Zheng often more interested in science and technology products, he is ready to try smart home, but found that the intelligent single products can not be interconnected, intelligent product line is more complete Haier and the United States, he can not accept all the home appliances are bought the same brand, Finally, according to their own preferences with the various brands of smart home products.

Troubles follow. For example, a brand of smart TV, only support Android mobile phone control, Apple Store app has not been online. Small Zheng's smart air-conditioning and smart fridge support the iphone, but it takes two different apps to manipulate it. Xiaozheng said, how many smart home products you need to download how many mobile apps, not enough tired, if you can get through into a app.

In addition, Xiao Zheng Think, now many smart Home Products app is just the function of remote control moved to the mobile phone, or switch, thermostat those several function keys, the more information is able to display on the phone on the length of the air-conditioning and power consumption.

Allwin consultation recently released a survey report, in its joint Tencent network to do the questionnaire, 95.2% of consumers said that the smart home products are very interested, while 87.5% of the users of the status of intelligent home dissatisfaction, said that with the expected completely inconsistent, the main reason is that the user experience is not good.

High price of products

In addition to the experience is not good, some products affixed to smart home labels after the high price also become a reason for consumers to stare.

In the morning of Saturday, the reporter in Beijing Suning Association Bridge Shop, Beijing Gome West Xiba Shop to see, in the intelligent home experience area willing to sit down to experience the consumer very little. Gome, a shop assistant told reporters that the complete set of intelligent products one months sold out of less than 5 sets, difficult to sell one of the reasons is that the price is indeed a bit expensive. The clerk pointed to a double door smart fridge and said, just under the old paragraph with this same, capacity, power consumption, shape are similar, the next frame before the activities to sell 4999 yuan, now this in the refrigerator door mounted a 9-inch LCD screen, said that can be online can also watch TV, it is necessary to sell 13999 yuan.

At this year's home fair, some manufacturers introduced smart home products priced also a raspberry. Haier has shown a set of intelligent sanitary ware including water heater, intelligent mirror and washing machine, and its price is not less than 40,000 yuan.

Science and technology since the media Mr. Li conscientiously really measured a few smart home products. He spent 1300 yuan to buy a smart light bulb, a total of three. These smart bulbs can be changed in a variety of colors, after the setting can be used to manipulate the light bulb brightness, load some extended applications, the light bulb can also change color with the music in the room. Although it is fun, but after the freshness of the past, such a single product like chicken. Mr. Li also thinks, now some brands by the smart home gimmick to the product set a virtual high price, "an intelligent module, many are just a WiFi module, up to 50 yuan, but attached to the product, the price of the product immediately rose hundreds of thousands. ”