Stepping up to lead, and forever to change.
On November 8, 2022, the 2022 EqualOcean Summit for Globalization (ESG), hosted by EqualOcean and its newly-launched globalization think tank, will be held in Shanghai China. It will be EqualOcean's largest offline gathering of the year, bringing together a large group of high-level entrepreneurs, investors, academics and other related parties in the globalization process.
During the Summit, EqualOcean will share the 2022 China Brand Globalization Index Report and release the list of Globalization Brand Top 100; at the same time, we are proud to present The 2022 Consumer Tech 50 finalists.
This year's award for the top 50 consumer tech brands recognizes the industry's leaders and technologies that have made a significant impact during the past year. Their strong upward momentum in the post-epidemic era is also worthy of highlighting.
What is Consumer Tech?
Consumer tech, or consumer technology, refers to any type of technology designed for use by consumers, which comes in a variety of different forms, covering from home appliances, smart devices to wearables for entertainment. Think scooters, vacuums, smartphones and microwaves.
In fact, there are hundreds of categories that could be listed here, and products will continue to hit the market as technology evolves to better meet and fulfill the needs of people. In a few decades, we believe that the advances in the consumer tech industry might be far beyond our imagination today.
That's for sure.
What are the criteria?
The 2022 Consumer Tech 50 focuses on the leading companies in four specific consumer tech sectors, namely home appliances, lifestyle, personal care & beauty and consumer electronics. An authoritative panel of EqualOcean analysts, company representatives and industry experts selected high-growth companies in the consumer tech industry based on a combination of technology, products, marketing, business models and other relevant factors.
In addition, during the selection process of this list, EqualOcean also introduced several keywords such as design, aesthetics and innovation as selection criteria, dedicated to discovering new brands that can offer more possibilities for the future of consumers' daily life.
In sum, we hope to screen out those domestic consumer tech brands in this trillion-dollar track that can seize the opportunities well along with a higher vision, stronger growth resilience and a more comprehensive industry chain.
Together with these brands, we hope to traverse the consumer cycle and lead the journey in a new direction.
How do we select?
EqualOcean interviewed and researched each alternative company to obtain first-hand information in a more comprehensive and informative manner, trying the best to ensure that the list is objective, fair, and rigorous.
The specific selection methods include:
- Desktop research. Based on EqualOcean's long-term research of the consumer tech industry, the list is a distillation of the industry's ecological status.
- Experts interview. Interviews with high-level management from top-notch companies, academics, Key-Opinion-Leaders (KOLs) and other experts in the industry to acquire exclusive insights on the industry.
- Questionnaires. An open-ended questionnaire with 10 questions is widely circulated via multiple marketing channels, with the aim of attracting any companies that have interest. The collected questionnaires are re-analyzed.
A further look into the list
After a multi-dimensional analysis of the list from the perspective including but not limited to the core business, geographical distribution, establishment, background of the founding team, brand reputation and research capability, we are happy to share some key points we observe.
- Consumer tech brands are currently concentrated in the category of entertainment-designed consumer electronics available for daily use, which are usually small and lightweight, smart in operation, aesthetically in design and good in experience. The highest percentage of companies on the list are consumer electronics companies.
- 70% of the shortlisted companies are located in Tier-1 cities, of which 52% are clustered in the Pearl River Delta region. The high quality and abundant university resources as well as the huge retail consumer market demand have nurtured and gathered the most valuable talents for consumer technology companies, which also provides a wide space for their development.
- Technological innovation is an important factor for consumer tech companies to stand out. 22% of companies hold more than 200 patented technologies, and 14% of our picks have over 1,000 items of patented technology. For example, the leading vacuum brand Puppyoo and the consumer electronics brand Huawei have all made extraordinary achievements in the field of research.
- Companies on the list are generally small to medium in size, with the vast majority of whom are no more than 300 hired personnel.
- Across the consumer tech sector, there is a mix of deep-rooted companies as well as emerging players. In this year's list, the ratio of companies established for over a decade to those established for less than 10 years is 4:6. It is interesting to note that 24% of the companies are even younger than 5 years old.
- Beauty technology has become a buzzword, which refers to the use of technology and digital innovation to make changes in product innovation, omnichannel marketing and improving business agility. Against the backdrop of the prevalent "beatuty economy", products such as AI/AR virtual makeup trials, smart beauty mirrors and smart skin testers have attracted the curiosity of many consumers. AMIRO, an intelligent beauty and personal care brand established in 2015, is one of the best case. The brand successfully captured the preferences of young female consumers, and its business potential has also received the attention of mainstream capital. According to public information, AMIRO's investors include ZhenFund, Shunwei Capital and Tencent.
- The consumer scenario shows further diversification and continuous innovation. For example, the listing of outdoor power supplier Ecoflow, the fitness technology Mobi Sport and the sleep technology brand Sleepace proves the value of focus to a great extent. In the post-epidemic era, the only way to have a breakthrough is to fully understand the consumers and to keep ploughing deeper into the niche market.
The full list of the 2022 Consumer Tech 50 is presented below.
About EqualOcean
EqualOcean focuses on serving Chinese companies on their road to globalization and helping overseas companies and organizations to grasp China's development opportunities. It believes in the value of globalization, with the mission of connecting China and the world.
For Chinese clients with globalization needs, EqualOcean provides overseas market and industry research, international branding, data products, and overseas resource-building services. For overseas clients who want to grasp China's development opportunities, EqualOcean provides Chinese market and industry research, investment target due diligence, data products and resource-building services.
EqualOcean continues to focus on globalization and invites professionals from various industries to provide valuable information and opinions by contacting yiru@equalocean.com. Any ideas are always welcome.