Hong Kong Industrialist Aug Oct 2021

Our future cities will be far smarter thanks to the wider uptake of Internet‑of‑Things (IoT). Smart home is one of the major IoT application areas, and together with “new normal” like work-from-home induced by COVID-19, the surging demand for higher class smart home appliances and devices sparks tremendous opportunities for industries. According to recent market research, the global smart appliances market will grow to US$76.4 billion by 2026, where APAC market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the period. Although the export to traditional European and US markets has been hit hard at the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic, the market has gradually regained momentum at the second half of 2020 with moderate growth ever since. Despite, the sizable domestic consumption of electrical appliances in mainland China also paints a promising picture for the industry. It is now the golden time for the electrical product manufacturing sector to tap into the massive middle-class market in the Mainland, taking advantage of the internal circulation strategy and facilitative policies for domestic sales. Besides, emerging markets like ASEAN region with increasing consumption power are also great expansion targets for the industry to create new business opportunities. In the past year, the main challenges of the electrical product sector are the shortage and competition of chips, inflationary pressure on raw materials, as well as the surging prices and congestion in container shipping. Besides mitigating such pressures, the industry will strive to pursue product and technology R&D to maintain our competitive edge, and actively upgrade towards smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 to improve the manufacturing process efficiency and product quality control. 物聯網技術日益普及，連接各種各樣的室內 和室外設備，智能家居更是主要應用範疇之 一，特別是在新冠肺炎疫情影響下，在家工 作令消費者對於此類智能化電器和電子產品 的需求不斷增長，為業界帶來龐大商機，開 拓中高端的產品市場。據最新市場調查估 計，全球智能電器市場將在2026年增長至 764億美元，當中以亞太地區國家的增長率 最高。 雖然傳統歐美外銷在疫情初期大受打擊，但 市場在2020下半年已開始復甦，近期更現增 長趨勢。然而，內地消費者對小家電的需求 龐大，電氣製品業界除了歐美客戶，亦應把 握國家內循環策略和「出口轉內銷」的便利政 策，開拓國內的龐大中產市場。另一方面， 東盟等新興市場的消費力日增，業界可積極 開拓，創造更多商機。 過去一年芯片短缺、原材料價格上升、船運 漲價及受阻等，均對電氣製品廠商造成經營 壓力。業界審慎應對之餘，同時會投資於產 品及技術研發，維持競爭優勢。業界亦積極 將生產線智能化，改良生產流程及加強品質 控制，推動行業加速邁向工業4.0。 Chairman: Andy Lui 主席:呂偉 | Vice-Chairman 副主席: Herbert Lun 倫達基 Hong Kong Electrical Product Council 香港電氣製品協會 GROUP 4 分組 第 8-10/2021 | 65