The smart lock industry has been very hot in the past two years, with many players vying for supremacy. Who will be the winner?

In the past two years, the smart lock industry has been very hot. A number of brands and companies basically want to get a piece of the pie, from giants such as Haier, Hikvision, Dahua, Midea, 360, Suning, Philips, etc. to small workshops based on families. It can be said that the entire industry is very lively. To use the current popular words, the smart lock industry is in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It remains to be seen who will win the battle among the heroes.

There are many companies but few leading brands

With the increasing maturity of related technologies and consumers' demand for convenience and fashion, my country's market development has entered a new stage. According to the forecast of Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, by 2022, the annual sales volume of smart door locks in my country will exceed 46 million, reaching 4604; the total market size will exceed 40 billion yuan, reaching 43.7 billion yuan. During the period of 2018-2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020 will be the golden three years for smart door locks, and the industry growth rate will reach 104%, 48% and 37% respectively.

The number of brands and manufacturers in the industry is growing further. However, despite the huge market space, it is much more difficult to make a smart lock. There is a very special phenomenon in the smart lock industry: those who make mechanical locks may not be able to make the electronic part well, and those electronic and home appliance companies that have advantages in the electronic part may not be able to make the mechanical part well. There are very few companies that are good at both. Why?

A smart lock is not just a simple lock. It involves many disciplines and fields such as electronics, communications, materials, network security, and biometrics. It is difficult to achieve product stability while integrating various fields in a short period of time.

"The entry threshold of the smart door lock industry is very low, but the threshold for success is very high. The reason why there are thousands of brands rushing in now is that some manufacturers only need to design a brand and find a factory to produce it under their brand name and then they can sell it. However, there are no more than 20 smart lock companies that actually have a manufacturing base and good core technology research and development capabilities." said Li Xuping, COO of Dessmann.

Quality and channels are the key to success

Industry experts believe that if smart lock companies want to expand the market rapidly, they must return to the essential requirement of smart door locks - safety. This requires smart door lock companies to return to their products, strengthen R&D investment in fingerprint recognition, digital encryption and other aspects at the technical level, improve the safety performance and after-sales service of smart door locks, and explore the real pain points of consumer needs. Only by improving the security skills of door locks and enhancing quality control management can consumers' product confidence and purchasing desire be enhanced.

In addition, the competition for channels is also a problem that all major smart lock companies must face. As the saying goes, whoever controls the channels controls the world. For companies, channels are the bridges for communication with consumers. At present, whether it is the competition for channels in traditional home furnishing stores, the opening up and advancement of e-commerce models on the Internet, or the expansion of channels such as supermarkets, 3C, and home appliances, they have all become a must-fight for smart lock companies.

Conclusion: At present, smart door locks have been used in many commercial scenarios, such as hotels, office buildings, apartments, etc., and have completed the market education process. With its technological development and consumption upgrade, it will usher in explosive growth. In the increasingly competitive market, whoever knows how to meet customers' smart needs better can truly seize the market. Hong Shibin, executive chairman of the Marketing Committee of the China Home Appliances Association, also said that after a round of reshuffle, the smart lock industry will gradually move towards a healthy development path with innovation and quality as the core capabilities.