Market size of home appliances Japan 2020-2022

The shipment value of household appliances in Japan was estimated at 8.13 trillion Japanese yen in the fiscal year 2021. Values decreased compared to the previous year, which was marked by increased consumption as people had to stay home due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Among other things, people used their time to exchange existing home appliances for new ones. As this heightened demand was not sustained in the 2021 fiscal year, the market shrank by 4.6 percent.

The household appliances market

The household appliances market includes various types of appliances used inside the home, such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners. Historically, household appliances played an important role as symbols of a new middle-class lifestyle that people aspired to at the beginning of Japan’s rapid economic growth phase, which lasted from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. Today, possession of a wide variety of home appliances is very common among Japanese households. There are a number of electronic goods retailers that dominate the market, such as Yamada Holdings, Bic Camera, and K's Denki. The retail sales value of electric household appliances sold at large-scale specialty retailers showed a steady increase in the latter half of the 2010s. A breakdown of the sales value of consumer electric appliances shows that electric refrigerators constitute the largest category in the Japanese market, ahead of products such as electric washing machines and ventilating fans.

Effects of foreign competition

Japanese home appliance manufacturers, which are known for producing technologically advanced consumer goods, have come under pressure due to foreign competition in the recent years. Next to lowered prices, this competition has resulted in Japanese companies selling parts of their businesses to foreign competitors, particularly manufacturers from China. In 2012, Panasonic sold Sanyo Electric’s white goods business to the Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier. Sharp was acquired by Foxconn in 2016, the same year that Fujitsu sold its PC business to Lenovo. Toshiba sold its home appliance business to Midea in 2016 and its TV business to Hisense in 2018. One strategy of Japanese manufacturers who opt to continue competing in the market is to focus on developing new technology, such as appliances equipped with Internet of Things (IoT) functions, which turn households increasingly into smart homes. Smart appliances are the largest segment of the smart home market in Japan and constitute a growing business field.