The Chinese piano industry, which has no two scenery, is falling into an unprecedented dilemma. The piano flying into the ordinary people's house in the past has now become a difficult chicken rib.
From the second half of 2022, Wuyun has been shrouded in the entire Chinese piano market.The influence of market demand has weakened, inventory pressure has intensified, and the influence of superficial decoctions and dual reduction policies has allowed the development momentum of the entire piano industry to decline all the way.
The most directly reflected in this trend is the bleak performance of the piano giant Helen and the Pearl River piano listed on A shares.
In the first three quarters of last year, Helen piano revenue fell 21.99%year -on -year, and net profit attributable to the mother plummeted by 24.7%; the Piano piano revenue fell 31.47%year -on -year, and the net profit of the mother recorded 93.54%.These data reflect an ominous signs -the piano business is not easy to do.
These two companies are not alone.According to data from the China Musical Instrument Association, in the first three quarters of last year, the operating income of 232 enterprises above designated size in the musical instrument industry decreased by 21.28%year -on -year, the profit decreased by 43.35%, and the profit margin of the industry was only 6.59%.
Not only the first -hand piano market presents a pool of dead water, and the second -hand market is not good.
On second -hand trading software such as idle fish, many people are anxious to take off the piano in the house. The text generally says "children don't want to learn", and the price they drive often will not exceed 10,000 yuan.(RMB, the same below, about S $ 1887), the lowest can even bottom out to 4,000 yuan.
Some netizens said that there was no one who had bought piano for 50,000 to 60,000 yuan before.
The sales of upstream manufacturers have a bleak sales impact, radiating to downstream training institutions and piano shops.In the first and second -tier cities, large and small piano shops closed one after another, and even the former industry benchmark Emperor International Music Center also ran in August last year.
According to statistics, in early 2022, there were 650,000 Chinese music training institutions and 25,000 piano shops, and about 30 % were closed at the end of the year.Overnight, the piano industry, which has grown at high speeds for more than 10 years, suddenly felt unprecedented chills.
The middle -class family can't move
The piano market blows cold wind, one of the reasons is that middle -class families can no longer roll.
From the perspective of many middle -class families, piano is a symbol of the bourgeoisie.Even if the cost is high, you still have to put a piano at home or let the child take a piano class to appear high -end and face.
However, as a craft that can highlight the taste and show financial resources, playing the piano is extremely dependent on talent, and the effort is not necessarily proportional to the results.Many "chicken baby" parents not only have to be mounted with children who refuse to practice, but also have to continue to increase costs, but they may not be rewarded.
Especially in the environment of economic downturn, consumption confidence, and uncertainty, the income of middle -class households has shrunk, and the assets are continuing to collapse.Even if the piano has been regarded as a middle -class family in the way of life pursuit, I am afraid that they have to consider changing the pursuit of goals.
Mr. Fan, who is engaged in the sales of medium and ancient piano for more than 20 years, said in an interview with cover news that the decline in piano sales was mainly affected by the decline in income from the middle class. In the past two years, it is not optimistic about the long -term expectations of the future.
The Pearl River Piano also admits in the mid -term financial report of 2023 that the consumption of the piano industry is likely to be affected by the consumer environment, residents' disposable income and consumer confidence. In the future, the growth of consumer market demand for the instrument industry will gradually slow down.
Is the piano for music or test?
Another more critical reason is that learning piano is no longer a channel for students to advance and even art.
China really set off a national piano fever around 2008. At that time, China implemented the policy of art candidates' piano 10 to add points in the middle school entrance examination.Training and testing markets.
There is also a saying that if your child does not learn piano, you are embarrassed to say that children and art are covered.
According to statistics, the average number of pianos held by Chinese residents per 100 households in China was 1.3 in 2001, 5.82 in 2017, and more than eight in 2021.Three areas.
From 2017 to 2020, the average annual piano sales in China were 400,000, far higher than the average annual sales of 30,000 in the United States.During the same period, the number of Chinese learning piano reached about 40 million, which was about seven times that of the United States.If everyone signed up for the examination, the costs such as registration and training they paid will be an astronomical figure.
However, high -speed growth bubbles have gradually been pierced since 2018.Chinese officials canceled the extra points of the middle school entrance examination of the art specialty students in 2018, giving the parents who are keen on making their children in the piano class.
In the past, many schools had artistic enrollment indicators, so that some students with poor academic grades entered school through artistic routes. Now this road is also blocked.In 2021, the official launch of a double -reduction policy has made the entire piano education market completely slumped.
Since then, in the eyes of many parents who are looking for Jackie Chan and a daughter, learning the piano has become icing on the cake and even dispensable.Parents are no longer enthusiastic about making their children learn piano and piano less people, and the teaching and training institutions are closed. The piano naturally cannot be sold.
After 2018, the sales of Helen piano and the Pearl River piano began to go downhill.From 2019 to 2022, the vertical piano sales of Helen pianoThe 36738 units fell to 22,792; the piano sales of the Pearl River piano fell from 156,100 to 110,200 units at the same time.
Helen Piano said frankly in the financial report in 2020 that the reason why the piano is not selling is the delay or suspension of school, and the offline training institutions have been suspended.The relationship between art training and musical instruments is closely related to the sales market, and the training market is downturn, which indirectly affects piano sales.
Not only the piano cannot be sold, but the inventory accumulated in the warehouse needs to be eliminated.As of 2021, Chinese piano ownership reached 8.648 million.In the context of cold piano market, how to consume these inventory is still a big problem.
How long can the piano dream be done?
The experience of the ups and downs of the piano market reflects a phenomenon that the demand for piano is boosted by the test market, and the source of the demand for the test market is largely the expectations of the public about learning piano to help class transition.
The problem is that the economic and social environment in reality is completely different.Growth is likely to no longer return to the cruel reality.However, even if middle -class families no longer have piano dreams, piano is still the love of many high net worth individuals, especially luxury pianos.
Steinway, known as the king of the piano, rolled against the wind in the Chinese piano market, and the net profit can still rise.Steinway sees the growing high net worth of China, and is also a direct beneficiary of the growth of such groups.
When Steinway restarts the listing in New York in 2022, he also specially thanked the Chinese market for its rapid growth in the prospectus.From 2016 to 2021, Steinway's net sales in China increased from US $ 46 million (about S $ 61.8 million) in 2016 to US $ 116.5 million in 2021, with a compound annual increase of 20.4%.
At the same time, many middle -class families who woke up from the piano dream also shifted their attention to electronic piano with a lower price.
The market of mid -range piano such as vertical piano, triangle piano, and other mid -range piano has gradually fallen behind. The lower -end electric piano has risen and seized the share of the piano market. The market size has risen year by year.%.
Some middle -class "consumption downgrade" struggling in the existing economic environment must also move a piano home to show that the piano is also a symbol of the social class.To make the piano regain interest and the essence of music, and subvert the current situation of the existing test of the piano market, I am afraid that they have to wake up the people who are still immersed in piano dreams and change their concept of piano as social class symbols.
In the final analysis, the sound of pleasant piano under the black and white keys can originally come from every ordinary person in the society.
