No one would have thought that the air fryer market, which had been silent for a long time, would explode again this year. According to data from the Prospective Industry Research Institute, in the first half of this year, air fryer performed well among the small household appliances category, with sales increasing by 271.0% year-on-year.

Fast-paced urban life, many young consumers are more willing to use takeaway to solve the problem of three meals. However, the outbreak at the beginning of this year forced people to be isolated at home for a period of time, biting the bullet and starting to learn to cook by themselves. Many consumers buy small kitchen appliances such as breakfast machines and air fryer to cook delicacies and show their cooking skills through social sharing. These products are also sought after by young consumers. Some friends around the reporter bought an air fryer and gave a high evaluation of the product experience after actual use.

At present, China is the world's largest production market for air fryer, but consumption is still at a relatively low level. According to data from QYResearch, Chinese brands accounted for 24.99% of the global air fryer production in 2018, ranking first. However, the Chinese market accounted for only the market share of air fryer consumption in major global regions in 2018. It was 6.42%, far lower than the 51.32% in the North American market.

 Development is still shallow, pain points to be solved

The development time of air fryer in the domestic market is relatively short. The State Grid of China has consulted about reports on domestic air fryer, which can be traced back to 2016. An analyst in the kitchen appliance industry told the State Grid of China that air fryer has become very popular in the Korean market in recent years, and as an Internet celebrity, small household appliances have quickly penetrated the domestic market, but it has only been in the domestic market for 5-6 years. Development History.

air fryer has better communication and social attributes. On platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, many users take the initiative to spread the experience of using such products.

When observing the sales of air fryer on JD.com, the reporter found that small home appliance brands all have a number of air fryer products with over 10,000 reviews, indicating that the air fryer industry has not yet formed a clear Matthew effect, and some new brands also hope that Find some development opportunities through this market.

However, it is undeniable that the air fryer still has product pain points such as the taste of food is not as good as that of frying and loud noise, which are also some issues that need to be considered when product optimization in the future.

Homogeneity and substitutability highlight products How to find differences?

In addition to some of the pain points of the product, the air fryer industry also has serious product homogeneity, and there is a substitute relationship with products such as electric ovens.

The air fryer currently on the market is mainly divided into mechanical type and touch type, and the brand's product innovation is gradually moving closer to the latter. Mechanical products require manual temperature adjustment and cannot intuitively understand the internal conditions during the cooking process; touch-sensitive products have LCD panels that can intuitively understand the operation of the equipment. Some models are also equipped with intelligent systems and automatic temperature control functions. Touch-sensitive products are also regarded as one of the mainstream models for the future development of air fryer.

 When consumers buy an air fryer, they often compare it with an electric oven, but in fact, there are some differences between the two in principle. The electric oven mainly uses the heating tube to heat the food. In addition to the heating tube, the air fryer is also equipped with a fan behind the heating tube, which can continuously heat the hot air in the closed cavity, allowing the hot air to take away the surface moisture , So as to achieve the purpose of crisp.

The advantages and disadvantages of the air fryer and the electric oven are also obvious. The former has a faster preheating, more energy-saving, and more fuel-efficient, suitable for households with a small population; the latter has functions such as baking and fermentation, and can be baked at one time. The large volume of meals for multiple people is more suitable for families with large populations and gatherings. Due to the limited space in domestic kitchens, whether to buy an air fryer or an electric oven has often become a problem for consumers when purchasing.

At present, the integration of air fryer and other categories of functions can increase the frequency of use by consumers, which can be a direction for future development

Whether the air fryer is due to a wave of market enthusiasm due to the epidemic or whether it has really hit the consumer demand is still unknown in the short term. Some analysts believe that the price of air fryer is equivalent to that of electric oven, and whether it can be generally accepted by consumers is still a question. From the current point of view, whether the air fryer can become a new outlet in the home appliance market may require a period of market verification in the future.