Is the smart clothes hanger an "intelligence tax"? There are problems with products such as Good Wife, Jin Gui Wife, and NetEase Yan Xuan

A comparative experiment has uncovered the "fig leaf" of the smart clothesline industry, and has also made consumers who are passionate about smart home appliances feel "cool".

In April this year, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission conducted tests on 25 batches of intelligent clothes hangers and found that 17 batches of samples did not fully meet the electrical safety and performance requirements. There are professional brands such as Good Lady and Golden Lady among them; Traditional brands such as Panpan and Hangdian; Cross border brands such as NetEase Yanxuan and Arrow.

Behind the continuous increase in sales of smart clothes hangers, the product quality and after-sales service of some brands have been repeatedly questioned by consumers. Will this product ultimately lead to the end of an "intelligence tax"?

Multiple batches of intelligent clothes hangers have issues during testing

Intelligent clothes hanger is a balcony smart home appliance that uses an electric motor to generate driving force to lift and lower the clothes hanger. With the support of intelligent voice control, intelligent lighting, disinfection and sterilization, drying and air drying functions, it brings consumers a strong sense of freshness and convenient user experience.

However, the popular smart clothes hangers on the market seem less reliable.

The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission referred to GB 4706.1-2005 "Safety of Household and Similar Electrical Appliances Part 1: General Requirements" and QB/T 5202-2017 "Electric Clothes Drying Machines for Household and Similar Purposes". During testing, it was found that 10 batches of samples had electrical safety issues, involving input power and current, internal wiring, grounding measures, and other items. Some samples may pose a risk of overload during use, while others may pose a risk of electric shock.

The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission pointed out that internal wiring not only comes into contact with sharp threads, but also is directly fixed to the threads with zip ties. After pressure and friction, once the insulation layer is damaged, it is easy to cause a short circuit, ignite surrounding plastic parts, and cause greater danger.

In addition, 17 batches of samples have performance issues related to size deviation, rated load capacity, overload, and other items. Some samples cannot be lifted normally after being loaded with the rated weight load; Some samples have also dropped too quickly during operation, exceeding the limit range.

The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission pointed out that after hanging a unilateral load on 7 batches of products, they cannot be lifted or lowered normally, and even cause damage.

It is worth mentioning that there is currently no national standard specifically for intelligent clothes hangers, and this performance test is based on industry standards. This to some extent reflects the uneven quality of commercially available products. Even if consumers choose well-known brands such as Good Madam, NetEase Yanxuan, Supor, etc., they may still encounter a situation of "tipping over".

Regarding the above situation, NetEase Yanxuan presented a testing report to the reporter, clarifying that the NetEase Yanxuan intelligent clothes hanger had passed the industry standard (QB/T 5202-2017) testing for clothes hangers before going online, and the product met the standard requirements. NetEase Yanxuan attaches great importance to product quality and user experience, has strict quality management processes for products, and has strict testing and verification for products and production processes.

The reply also mentioned that NetEase Yanxuan's intelligent clothes drying rack was sold out and taken down in 2023. If consumers encounter any quality problems during use, NetEase Yanxuan promises to provide corresponding after-sales services such as maintenance within the service scope to protect the rights and interests of consumers.

Humble High Group replied to consumer reports that it attaches great importance to the testing situation of the Jiangsu Consumer Protection Commission and has conducted internal investigations as soon as possible. The product has been sent to a professional third-party testing institution for testing.

Good Lady, Ox, Rex, Supor and other companies did not respond to the interview letters reported by consumers. In addition, the reporter noticed that the category of intelligent clothes hangers has a higher failure rate compared to other electrical categories in past inspections. In the quality supervision and random inspection of electric clotheslines in Shanghai in 2023, 7 out of 45 batches of products were found to be unqualified, with an unqualified rate of about 15.6%; In the supervision and spot check conducted by the Nanjing Market Supervision Bureau in 2023, 6 out of 20 batches of products were found to be unqualified, with a failure rate of 30%; In the supervision and spot check conducted by the State Administration for Market Regulation in 2022, 24 out of 52 batches of products were found to be unqualified, with an unqualified rate of approximately 46.2%.

Considering that the intelligent clothes hanger products are not yet listed in the National Compulsory Certification Product Catalog (CCC certification), Consumer Reports suggests that when choosing, everyone should prioritize products with the China Quality Certification Center certification (CQC certification), because CQC certification is a voluntary certification, and products that dare and pass the certification are still trustworthy in terms of quality.

The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission has also provided suggestions for the use of smart clothes hangers, such as paying attention to the maximum load of the smart clothes hanger when using it, and not overloading it; Clothes should be hung evenly on the drying poles to avoid concentrated hanging, which can lead to uneven load and affect their service life; The intelligent clothes hanger with warm air drying and UV sterilization functions should be turned on after the clothes drying rod is raised to the top to prevent accidental injury to surrounding personnel.

The R&D expenses of the leading lady are "stagnant"

The traditional clothes drying equipment in Chinese households may be a rope, a bamboo pole, or a metal tube. But with the rise of professional clothesline equipment and technological development over the past 20 years, clotheslines have evolved from floor standing, floating, and hand cranked to electric clotheslines driven by electricity.

At present, the intelligent clothes hanger has achieved a market size of nearly 10 billion yuan, and its positioning has extended from hardware products to household appliances and smart homes. According to research by Oviyun, it is estimated that the sales of intelligent clothes hangers are expected to exceed 10 million units in 2024. According to CSHIA Research research data, the sales of smart clothes dryers continued to grow in 2023, with a strong market foundation and becoming one of the fastest-growing smart home categories with a growth rate of 22.1%. In 2023, the market size has reached 12.7 billion yuan, with an overall number of sets reaching 9 million. It is expected that by 2026, the market size of intelligent clothes drying machines will exceed 20 billion yuan, with an average growth rate of over 20%.

Data source: CSHIA Research

The first-line brand testing of smart clothes hangers such as Good Lady, Golden Lady, and NetEase Yanxuan did not meet expectations, which reflects that there are still problems in the production management of major brands and urgently needs to be improved; On the other hand, it reflects that under the promotion of the smart home wave, the market is developing rapidly and the consumption heat is high, leading to disorderly industry competition, and various brands want to get the first share of the pie. According to iResearch's "2023 Trend Insight into Air Drying Scenarios", only three production enterprises have a production capacity of over 500000 units; There are 10 companies with 100000 to 200000 units; There are 60 companies with 30000 to 100000 units. The intelligent clothes drying machine brand presents a situation of one super many strong, with the top brand Good Lady leading with a market share of 40%, far ahead of second tier brands such as Hangba, Panpan, Olant, and Lianyi.

As a leading player in the industry and listed on the A-share market, Good Lady's business data and model are of great reference value.

According to Good Madam's 2023 annual report, the operating income was 1.688 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.16%; The net profit was 327 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 49.71%; The net profit after deduction was 323 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.18%.

The impressive performance of a good wife cannot be separated from the promotion of the trend of smart home consumption. According to Statista data, the global smart home market is expected to grow from $126.1 billion to $207.8 billion from 2022 to 2026, and the domestic smart home market is expected to reach $45.3 billion by 2026. Moreover, the penetration rate of smart homes in China is only 13%, and there is still enormous market potential.

However, the company that has obtained thousands of patents seems to be shifting its focus from research and development to marketing. In the past three years, while operating revenue has maintained steady growth, sales expenses have shown a relatively high growth, with a year-on-year increase of over 25%, while research and development expenses have hovered around 50 million yuan. Among them, the research and development expenses in 2023 are less than one sixth of the sales expenses, only about 3% of the operating income.

The service and quality issues of a good wife cannot be ignored.

In December last year, Mr. Wu, a consumer, told reporters that the good wife had privately set a time for on-site installation without communicating with him, and changed it repeatedly. Mr. Wu was disappointed with his good wife's service due to a series of installation appointments without communication.

Some complainants also told reporters that the attitude of the installation technician arranged by the good wife was not friendly. When dismantling the old clothes hanger, they threw it directly into the ground and kept cursing.

In the 2022 Shanghai product quality supervision spot check results (10th batch), a smart clothes drying machine of Good Madam was found to be unqualified, with the item being "Mark and Explanation".

In the eyes of consumers, no fancy product function can match the reliability of the product, which is also a difficult problem that the intelligent clothes hanger industry urgently needs to solve.