LED display screens are widely used in advertising media, sports stadiums, stage backgrounds, municipal engineering and other fields, and are already the most mature market segment in the LED application field. In 2017, China’s LED display market showed a dual-day situation.
High-end markets such as fine pitch and differentiated markets developed rapidly, while low-end and mid-end LED display companies stagnated or became smaller due to homogeneous competition. In 2017, the overall scale of China’s LED display industry reached US$4.62 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.05%. Among them, the small-pitch LED display has grown rapidly and has become an important driving force for the growth of LED display.
As the LED industry matures, in addition to technological innovation and product costs, factors such as industry concentration, enterprise scale, and branding have become more prominent in the development of the industry.
Especially in the LED downstream application link where the LED display is located, the industry threshold is low, the number of companies is large, and the scale and brand determine the reputation and dependence of the company in a large process.
With the continuous improvement of industry concentration, the top-ranked large enterprises and listed companies have realized rapid expansion of scale by virtue of their capital advantages, and their brand influence has increased significantly. Small and medium-sized companies are facing increasing pressure from market competition.
In recent years, with the continuous hot development of the domestic LED display market, the division of labor has become more and more clear. Some companies that are close to the terminal market focus on providing customers with professional services and post-operation and maintenance, thereby freeing themselves from the heavy production and manufacturing fields; while some LED display companies that are good at manufacturing and manufacturing focus on LED displays The R&D and production of LED displays provide LED display products for companies in the industry that focus on engineering and leasing services.
The large-scale and standardized development of the LED display industry has also promoted the emergence of the module wholesale field, which has become a force that cannot be ignored in the industry, and has greatly promoted the explosion of the general market of the LED display industry and promoted the domestic LED display industry. Ecological rewriting.
The module wholesale market originated from the fact that single and dual primary color
LED displays are composed of modules, power supplies, cabinets, cable power cords, and accessories. Among them, the cost of modules is the highest, accounting for more than 70% of the cost of the display. The LED display module is generally composed of two ways: in-line and surface mount. The LED display module unit board wholesale industry was first born from a large number of companies that provided wholesale business of single and dual color module unit boards, mainly from Fujian and Shenzhen.
In recent years, as LED display applications have become more and more widespread, LED display modules have shifted from the original single and double primary colors to the full-color field, which has led to the explosion and continued prosperity of the entire full-color application market, and has developed a brand that excludes the entire screen. The huge bulk assembly market outside of manufacturers.
Since the module wholesale market originated from the relatively low-end single and dual color module unit board field, although the market demand is strong, it is relatively fragmented, and the technical requirements are not high, the installation is relatively simple, and the profits are relatively thin. Most of the entire screen manufacturers Think of it as chicken ribs.
Some companies represented by Fujian and Shenzhen have creatively introduced channel management strategies, and distributed a large number of LED modules to all parts of the country by establishing a unified distribution channel model in all major application markets across the country.
Not only meets the low-end market’s demand for LED displays, but also lays the foundation for the popularization and application of LED displays. It opened the door to the commercialization and generalization market for the LED display market, which was only customized for engineering, and effectively lowered the application threshold of the LED display industry.
In the later period, as the homogeneity of LED display products became more and more serious, and the price war severely diluted corporate profits, some full-color screen companies had to adopt the channel model to sell products, and most of them were mainly wholesale of single and double primary color modules. Business enterprises have also upgraded their products to full-color LED display modules. In the later period, most module manufacturers have entered the full-screen engineering and rental market for profit and brand considerations.
At this stage, with its relatively low prices and unique sales channels, module unit board wholesale companies have begun to grow rapidly. Some LED manufacturers have even achieved annual sales not lower than LED display industry rankings by virtue of their perfect channel advantages. The performance of the former listed company.
As some module wholesale companies pay more and more attention to R&D and production, their products and models are closer to market application requirements. Its product form has developed from the initial single and double primary colors to indoor and outdoor full-color display modules. In the past two years, it has continued to make efforts in the indoor and outdoor small-pitch and outdoor surface mount markets.
Its super-large mass production and supply capabilities have rapidly To meet the mid-to-high-end needs of some conventional markets, it lays a solid foundation for the rapid development of the small-pitch and outdoor surface mount markets.
Channel competition has become the key to the success of module wholesale companies
. The competition for homogenization of LED display products has intensified, and how to effectively sell products has become a difficult problem for many companies. The current LED display market sales model has undergone a major change-from the direct sales model of LED display manufacturers to the local module wholesale sales model in various regions.
As a result, a large number of customers can transfer goods nearby, which can obtain better prices and more secure after-sales service. In such a situation, companies are forced to improve their channels and get closer to the market.
In the past few years, the traditional LED display customized sales model has been adopted. When the industry situation is not good, orders are volatile and monthly sales are extremely unstable. However, in contrast, several domestic large-scale display module wholesale companies were thriving in the economic downturn in 2015 and gained a lot.
This is mainly due to the convenience of wholesale inventory sales, no deposits and no delays, mass production can reduce costs and improve cost performance, eliminating the need for modular installation of the cabinet, which is more suitable for the general application conditions of small and medium-sized projects, and local dealers are more willing to adopt This type of model is not only the price, but also the transportation cost and safety involved.
Channel strategy has become the common choice of many companies. Due to the particularity of LED display products, the professional requirements of the channel are very high. This is doomed to the mode that LED display channels cannot be distributed and sold like ordinary products, and because of their particularities, they can only find terminal engineering companies and leaders to establish professional sales channels.
The LED display terminal channel resources are limited, so the competition for channel customer resources is very fierce. It is no exaggeration to describe the channel competition in the LED display industry as an invisible war.
Some LED display module wholesale companies abandon or reduce their end-to-end screen sales market activities, and instead seek to provide OEM or OEM production services for manufacturers specializing in engineering or leasing in the industry. The focus of the company is on LED display products. R&D and production areas. And some LED display module wholesale companies are keen to lay out the terminal channel market.
Some manufacturers that have always advocated “channel is king” choose the local hierarchical agency marketing model, and by choosing channel vendors with LED display industry experience and technical service levels in the designated regional market, they will be given the right to sell a specific range of products, and Through the construction of “thousands of stores and thousands of points” demonstration stores, the channel has been lowered to the county and city level, and the terminal market has been well covered.
At present, there are several LED display module wholesale companies that have established national distribution channels like this, and they are tirelessly deploying similar channels across the country. The fierce battle for channel resources is being staged almost every day, and there are many infernal dog-blood dramas like you and me.
More and more companies are beginning to expand their business from traditional sales channels to online platforms. Some companies choose to use powerful third-party platforms, such as Taobao, JD, etc., and some companies choose to build their own online sales platforms, such as establishing official websites or developing With mobile app application software, various LED manufacturers are using different methods to expand their channels.
Industry integration into the future development trend of channel construction companies
After more than ten years of development in the LED display industry, the market structure has basically taken shape. After the big waves, several large companies with annual sales of more than 1 billion yuan have emerged. The rapid intervention of capital has stabilized the pattern of the mid-to-high-end market. The mid-to-high-end sector is basically playing games with these companies. However, the middle and low-end wholesale market is full of variables and irregularities. For this reason, it is favored by brand companies.
At present, domestic companies focusing on the wholesale of module unit boards are mixed, and the participation is uneven. Companies that do better in channel construction are Powerful Jucai, Helilai, Trina Optoelectronics, etc. In the field of LED display, companies that can play in the high-end market and have spare capacity to enter the wholesale market are Zhouming, Leyard, Absen, JYLED and so on, in the past year, have also been aggressively deploying channels. Listed brand companies deploy mid-to-low-end channels, and the original wholesale market will be further divided.
Listed brand companies rely on their accumulated influence over the years and their own strong financial strength to have the capital to achieve “large and complete” product coverage, so the original small and medium-sized enterprises’ market share is also constantly eroding.
With the large price cuts of large-scale brand companies entering the low-end display market, it will trigger the original companies to cut prices and compete for prices, which will lead to a decline in their profit margins. In addition, there is also such a trend in the LED display industry: packaging companies are not willing to be lonely, and begin to intervene in downstream applications. Enterprises set foot on each other’s territory, the competition pattern of the LED industry is staggered, and it is inevitable that the market share will be compressed.
Intensified competition will inevitably lead to price wars in the LED display industry. In recent years, the fierce and disorderly price competition in the low-end LED display field has greatly hurt many LED module wholesale companies. In order to survive, many module wholesale companies have begun to set foot in overseas markets.
In recent years, domestic LED display module wholesale companies have frequently participated in overseas exhibitions, becoming the most beautiful scenery for Chinese companies to expand into the international market. Facing the huge demand market for LED displays that has just emerged abroad, domestic module wholesalers have also begun to make careful arrangements, even at the cost of a dual-brand strategy, in an attempt to maximize overseas profits and subsidize domestic wholesale business.
The expansion of overseas markets only delays the reshuffle of the domestic LED display module wholesale industry. The senior brand director of JYLED asserts that in the future LED display industry module unit board wholesale companies will be integrated into 3 to 5 large-scale companies with brands and channels .
The original other module wholesale companies either die out in competition, or are transformed or integrated into the production base of the remaining channel wholesale companies or the supporting manufacturers that provide professional services.
LED display module wholesale market, after experiencing some rapid and brutal reverse growth, the market is expected to have 20~30% growth potential. The price increase in the raw material market this year has led to a collective rise in module wholesale companies, although the transmission mechanism of price increases has not finally affected the desire to buy in the terminal market.
But the argument that the price increase is to improve quality and efficiency is somewhat far-fetched. But the indisputable fact is that the long-term low-price and small-profit marketing method is no longer sufficient to support the long-term sustainable operation of the company.
The industry is a little turbulent, and the company is already turbulent, and the company’s anti-risk ability needs to be strengthened. As brand companies become more and more similar in product prices, channel layouts, and services, the countdown to reshuffle in the field of module wholesale will also become faster and faster.
