Midea is the leading player in the global consumer appliances market, with top three places in a number of categories, including leading air treatment products and microwaves. The Chinese company is also one of the main drivers of the smart home trend, launching AI-driven products in both consumer appliances and beyond. One area it could look to improve on is continuing to lessen its dependence on its home market, targeting dynamic countries in Asia as well as other parts of the world.

In a challenging 2023, with high inflationary pressures, Electrolux AB experienced a decline in sales. However, with growth in refrigeration appliances and strong brand rankings in various markets, the company may be able to achieve future growth over the forecast period, taking advantage of its special focus on design and sustainability, with key categories expected to increase in demand, in both major and small appliances.

LG Corp has demonstrated resilient growth by focusing on sustainable and innovative home solutions, thriving despite a decline in industry unit sales due to post-pandemic normalisation and inflation. By offering appliances that combine luxury, functionality and energy efficiency, LG aligns with modern sustainable home solutions. The company's strength in major appliances has propelled its transformation into a smart life solutions leader through servitisation, enhancing accessibility and market

Automatic laundry can only expand if efficient cold wash is achieved. All laundry stakeholders need to be in sync with one another in order to create effective solutions. Beyond collaboration, auto-dosing enables improved hygiene results in cold wash by better controlling Sinner's Circle through the release of disaggregated ingredients into the wash cycle and is triggering out-of-silo dynamics. Achieving sustained behavioral change will require linking poor consumer decisions to consequences.

The major appliances market saw a challenging 2023 in volume terms as consumers continued to scale back. However, industry innovations kept many interested, keeping healthy value sales. Innovations in AI, advances in interoperability between appliances and energy efficiency are set to positively impact the major appliances market. Premiumisation prospects are also coming from wider personalisation, claiming on durable and repairable appliances, and expanding on services rather than focusing on a

Industry stakeholders are increasingly debating between sustainability and technology leadership strategies in the appliances market. As margins continue to shrink, leadership in either category is critical to maintain continued competitiveness. In this briefing, we will debate the merits of both approaches and find a potential path to sustained growth and profitability for companies.

Whirlpool Corp is a top 10 manufacturer of consumer appliances globally, and its strength lies in major appliances in the North American market. The firm lost market share due to challenges meeting the COVID-19-induced surge in demand and has restructured its operations to focus on regions best positioned for growth moving forward. The firm faces stiff competition from private label brands and players in the premium space which have differentiated with design-forward and smart appliances.

Arçelik AS is global consumer appliances manufacturer, originating in Turkey. With 12 brands, 30 production facilities and 82 subsidiaries, the company is present in almost all continents. The strongest segment for the company is major appliances in the EMEA region. To maintain and scale up its position, the company is involved in several prominent M&A activities, and invests aggressively in technology and R&D to address consumer needs and help society around the globe.

Haier Group is a world leader in consumer appliances. It realised strong growth over the past years despite the pandemic-related adversities with a multi-brand, connectivity-focused strategy. It has the potential of not only penetrating more markets with competitive products but also revolutionising smart home with its pioneering Three-winged Bird initiative. Haier is set to continue cashing in its technological prowess and brand dominance as a disruptor of the industry from the global south.

Sales of major appliances slipped into decline across Western Europe in 2022, after most countries had been seeing growth during the pandemic, often in both 2020 and 2021. Consumers returning to more out-of-home activities as societies were fully reopening in 2022 diverted spending away from the home, and, given many households bought new appliances during the pandemic, replacements were not yet needed. In addition, rising inflation has been putting pressure on consumers’ disposable incomes.

China’s struggles with the Omicron variant across much of the year meant that sales of major appliances declined in 2022, resulting in slightly negative growth for the Asia Pacific region as a whole, given the size of this country’s market. However, positive growth is expected throughout the forecast period, with India slated to record a particularly dynamic performance in the coming years, helped by population growth and the still low penetration rates for many major appliances in this country.