For small home appliance enterprises, the operational team will be concerned about the short-term market sales impact caused by the withdrawal of the national subsidy policy. In the medium to long term, given a period of sustained consumption differentiation and accelerating conservatism, what will small home appliance enterprises rely on to continuously stimulate user demand? Policy dividends are only temporary benefits; long-term development still depends on product strength and market competitiveness, among other factors.

Written by He Sheng

Since the beginning of this year, continuous adjustments to the national subsidy policy have directly canceled the trade-in subsidies for kitchen appliances and small home appliances, triggering a series of chain reactions that continue to unfold.

From the current perspective, the Home Appliance Circle believes that the withdrawal of the national subsidy policy is rapidly affecting the market shipments of related small industries and enterprises in January and February this year. A year-on-year decline is an unavoidable trend and a normal response. However, compared to the kitchen appliance industry, small home appliances have experienced a relatively smaller overall impact from the withdrawal of the national subsidy policy, but related small home appliance enterprises are feeling more confused and distressed.

Specifically, the “aftereffects” of the withdrawal of national subsidies have been a mixed blessing for many enterprises in the small home appliance industry. For example, cleaning appliances such as robotic vacuum cleaners and floor washers, which are experiencing strong growth momentum and relatively high unit prices, as well as environmental appliances like air purifiers and water purifiers, will face significant market impacts. Many enterprises have chosen to reduce prices and offer discounts through enterprise subsidies at the beginning of this year to cushion the impact of the withdrawal of national subsidies.

For household appliances such as rice cookers, electric ovens, and electric kettles, the market impact is generally smaller. On the one hand, small household appliances in this category have low selling prices, and national subsidies have a relatively small direct stimulating effect on users. On the other hand, these small household appliances have low unit values, fast user turnover, and high market penetration. They are normalized consumer goods and do not experience significant fluctuations.

In the medium to long term, both major and small home appliances will eventually face the withdrawal period of national subsidy policies. Undoubtedly, for a fully market-oriented industry, early withdrawal of national subsidy policies is definitely better than late withdrawal. This means that for small home appliance enterprises, they can instead allocate more time and energy to product iteration and market operational transformations. Especially for cleaning appliances and environmental appliances with significant growth potential, success should rely on products and user management, rather than solely on low prices.

However, for enterprises such as Joyoung, Supor, Midea, as well as Bear, Buydim, Dreame, ECOVACS, and Roborock, the biggest challenge or confusion is not the withdrawal of the national subsidy policy. Instead, it is how to meet, win over, and activate demand, as well as create and lead a new round of consumption trends and fashions after returning to the market and user demand, in the face of the current continuously changing internal and external environments and the younger user demands.

In fact, from September 2024 to June 2025, the policy dividend period of national subsidies for home appliances was a typical “timely rain” for the small home appliance industry, which had already been experiencing market consumption downturns and had prematurely entered a downward and turbulent phase. It successfully stimulated and drove the hot sales of a batch of small home appliances, such as robotic vacuum cleaners, floor washers, and steam ovens.

In fact, as early as three years ago, the entire small home appliance industry entered a turbulent phase. Although cleaning appliance categories such as robotic vacuum cleaners and floor washers stood out, the overall market trend was quite sluggish and weak. Many small home appliance enterprises experienced “declines in both volume and profit,” and more importantly, their original business strategies and competitive methods became ineffective.

The original strategy of star bestsellers quickly lost its appeal to consumers. Long-term price competition also fell into a “dilemma” due to price chaos on e-commerce platforms. Restricted by low market barriers, a large number of low-priced, inferior, and homogeneous products “rampaged” in the market, preventing high-quality technological products from standing out. After the overall contraction and differentiation of consumption, the market fell into a deep state of turbulence and uncertainty.

Next, with the withdrawal of the national subsidy policy, all small home appliance enterprises can better focus on market research and user insights, and undertake a new round of product planning, marketing innovation, and market sorting from a fundamental perspective. However, during the actual implementation process, they face a transformative impact of “reinventing themselves.” Old models, methods, and approaches are no longer sustainable, while new strategies and business models have not yet been fully established, leaving them essentially “running naked” in the market.

From the perspective of the Home Appliance Circle, all small home appliance enterprises, whether they are household appliances, cleaning appliances, or kitchen appliances, are being pushed to a new crossroads by the tide of times, industry, and consumption transformations. The only challenge they face is to identify new breakthroughs and reconstruct capabilities and means of reinvention!

Currently, the new breakthroughs in the small home appliance industry lie in focusing on three dimensions: “market operations, user value, and product planning,” and reconstructing the multiple values between small home appliance products and users. This includes functional value, emotional value, and situational value, customizing different quality lifestyles and experiences for different users through a series of excellent products.

In summary: The short-term fluctuations in the small home appliance industry stem from the impact of the withdrawal of national subsidies. The key to medium- to long-term development lies in breaking free from policy dependence, addressing the dilemma of ineffective business models, focusing on products and users, reconstructing the value system, and finding breakthroughs for transformation.

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