Home furnishing is a typical heavy asset industry that requires integrating upstream and downstream supply chains, building brand, marketing network, and after-sales service while accumulating long-term strength to establish a good reputation and economies of scale in consumer end.
In addition, research and development (R&D) and design capabilities determine product style and brand personality, reflecting the core competitiveness of the enterprise. With the intergenerational shift of the main consumer group, consumers' demand for personalized and diversified home furnishing products is increasing. Therefore, design needs to incorporate various elements that highlight individuality based on meeting general characteristics and environmental requirements. This requires strong R&D and innovation capabilities as well as significant investment in R&D and technical support.
In 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other four departments released the "Action Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Home Furnishing Industry." The plan proposes to foster about 50 well-known brands and 10 home furnishing ecological brands in the home furnishing industry by 2025, establish 500 smart home experience centers, and cultivate 15 high-level characteristic industrial clusters to promote high-quality supplies and quality consumption of home furnishing brands. According to CITIC Securities, the market concentration of the home furnishing industry is expected to accelerate under the promotion of policies and brand efforts.
Therefore, fierce competition has made the domestic home furnishing market saturated, and seeking new growth points overseas has become a necessary path. In this article, EqualOcean takes stock of 11 leading home furnishing companies listed in China that have a total market value among the top 30 and overseas revenue of more than 10% (based on the 2022 financial report) and reviews their overseas layout one by one.
Chint Electrics (正泰电器)
Chint Group Corporation was founded in 1984 and is a globally renowned provider of intelligent energy system solutions. Chint has long been cultivating and laying out high-quality overseas markets, and with its complete product types, excellent product technology, and mature global sales channels, its products have been sold to 25 countries worldwide, including China, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Australia, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Thailand, and Brazil. Its cumulative photovoltaic installation capacity exceeds 20 GW, and its energy storage installation capacity exceeds 200 MWh, earning it a good market reputation and business performance. Among them, Chint has a high market share in high-quality overseas markets such as the United States and South Korea. According to IHS statistics, Chint's power inverter products accounted for 32.50% of the commercial and industrial photovoltaic market share in North America in 2021 and 18.3% of the photovoltaic power generation market share in South Korea, ranking among the top in the South Korean market. In addition, Chint has set up overseas warehouses in 15 countries, including Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
Kuka Home (顾家家居)
Since its establishment in 1982, Kuka Home has been specializing in the research, development, production, and sales of living room, dining room, and bedroom home furnishing products. In 2018, Kuka Home began to focus on overseas business. In that year, Kuka Home completed the acquisitions of Italian home furnishing brand Natuzzi, German brand RolfBenz, and Australian furniture brand NickScali. The following year, Kuka Home invested CNY 449 million to build a soft furniture base with an annual output of 450,000 sets in Vietnam. As of this year, Kuka Home's self-built base in Mexico is expected to be put into operation soon. While consolidating mature markets such as Europe and the United States, the company is trying to promote self-owned brand construction and sales in some Southeast Asian countries through franchise agreements and developing markets in China, Hong Kong, ASEAN, Australia, India, and other markets in the form of direct stores, independent franchise stores, and in-store stores.
Manwah Holdings (敏华控股)
Manwah Holdings Limited was founded in 1992 and its main business involves research and development, sales, and other services for sofas, mattresses, panel furniture, and furniture accessories, making it a leading enterprise in the Chinese furniture industry. On June 16, 2005, Manwah went public overseas and became the first Chinese furniture company to be listed on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange. On April 9, 2010, Manwah was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
As early as 2018, Manwah Holdings took measures to cope with the ever-changing situation in the international market. The company consolidated its advantages in exports by acquiring a Vietnamese factory and expanding it. In addition, in order to accelerate the process of exploring overseas markets, Manwah Holdings also invested in building a factory in Mexico in 2022. The implementation of this project marks a further improvement in Manwah Holdings' layout of overseas bases. With the construction and release of overseas factory capacity, it not only provides strong support for Manwah Holdings' expansion in overseas markets but also ensures the stability of the supply in the North American market. These measures will further consolidate Manwah Holdings' position in the overseas market and enhance its influence in the global market. Manwah now has more than 22 regional branches and over 200 branches worldwide, spanning core economic regions such as Europe, America, Asia, and Australia, with marketing networks covering core economic regions such as Asia, America, Europe, and Australia. Its products are sold in nearly 100 countries and regions.
Ziel Home (致欧科技)
Ziel Home was founded in 2010 and provides home furnishing products and services to over 20 million households worldwide, covering more than 60 countries and regions. Its self-owned brands SONGMICS, VASAGLE, and FEANDREA have become well-known home furnishing brands in Europe and the United States. According to Marketplace data, Ziel Home ranks first in the furniture and home category on the Amazon platform in Europe and third in the United States. In terms of business strategy, Ziel Home focuses on high-value-added business links such as product research and development, design, operation, and sales. It relies on China's complete supply chain manufacturing system and high-quality furniture and home industry clusters. The company mainly adopts a product supply model of independent research and development or cooperative development and outsourced production. It uses a cross-border warehousing and logistics system consisting of domestic and overseas self-operated warehouses, platform warehouses, and third-party cooperative warehouses. Its main sales channels include well-known overseas e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, ManoMano, Cdiscount, and eBay.
Sleemon (喜临门)
Sleemon was founded in 1984 and is one of the leading mattress manufacturers in China. The company started with mattress OEM business and became a supplier for IKEA in 2002. In 2008, it obtained a high-tech enterprise certification. Since its listing in 2012, the company has continuously developed its self-owned brand and gradually extended its product categories to soft beds and sofas. Currently, Sleemon has been ranked first on the C-PBI China mattress industry brand list for six consecutive years and has become a leading brand in the mattress industry. In terms of overseas business, the company has formed a national production layout and strengthened its delivery capabilities. It has eight major production bases in China and an overseas production base in Thailand.
Yotrio Group (浙江永强)
Yotrio Group was founded in 1992 and is a globally leading outdoor leisure furniture manufacturer and one of the top 100 Chinese etiquette and leisure supplies companies. The company has seven business divisions and has established manufacturing bases centered around Linhai with Ningbo, Henan, and Shandong as secondary centers. Its products mainly include leisure furniture, sunshades, swings, tents, stoves, outdoor kitchens, and other series, mainly exported to developed countries and regions such as the United States, Germany, and Australia. Its sales channels include large chain supermarkets, brand merchants, and e-commerce platforms. Currently, the company has 10,000 employees in China and has design, sales, and after-sales service teams from countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. As a leading enterprise, Yotrio Group actively participates in international, national, and industry standardization work, guiding the formulation of industry standards and driving the development of small and medium-sized enterprise clusters in the outdoor leisure industry.
FSL (佛山照明)
FSL is a first-level enterprise under Guangdong Guangsheng Holdings Limited, established in 1958 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1993. It has long been committed to researching, developing, producing, and promoting high-quality green and energy-efficient lighting products, providing customers with comprehensive lighting solutions and professional services. Its comprehensive strength ranks among the top domestic lighting brands. In recent years, the company's business segments have gradually expanded from the original general lighting, electrical, and automotive lighting to intelligent lighting, animal and plant lighting, health lighting, marine lighting, and other fields. While deepening its domestic market and establishing a complete sales network and professional service system, the company has been accelerating its overseas layout in recent years. Its intelligent products, solar outdoor products, solar street lights, and switch panels have been sold to Russia, the United States, Germany, Canada, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, and other countries. In addition, FSL plans to vigorously expand its self-owned brand business in overseas markets, enhance brand influence, and establish production bases overseas to reduce the impact of trade tariffs.
Solux (松霖科技)
Solux was founded in 2004 and is focused on research and development, design, and intelligent manufacturing in the field of smart health, including kitchen and bathroom health and beauty health products. Its product line includes showerheads, shower systems, precision faucets, furniture, and personal care products, which are sold worldwide. The company mainly exports to Europe, the United States, and Japan, and its main customers are international well-known/high-end kitchen and bathroom, home, beauty/health brand owners, and large chain retailers. North America is Solux's second-largest overseas market, accounting for about one-fourth of its sales.
Mlily (梦百合)
Mlily was officially founded in 2008 and mainly produces memory foam series home and furniture products. The company has several brands, including "MLILY," "0 Pressure Room," and "LiJing." Mlily adheres to the business layout of "world manufacturing + global marketing" and has a team that deeply cultivates the global market. Its products were launched in the US market in 2012, and it went public in the A-share market in 2016, becoming Manchester United's official global partner. In 2015, Mlily's Serbia factory was officially opened, and its products have radiated to countries and regions such as Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. Today, Mlily sells well in 73 countries, including the US, Japan, and the UK, and has nearly 10,000 sales terminals worldwide. It has six production bases in the US, Serbia, Thailand, Spain, and China, with an annual production capacity of over 10 billion yuan. In addition, Mlily Home continues to expand its offline channels overseas and has acquired the "Zara of bedding" and the Spanish local brand Maxcolchón, adding more than 90 stores locally. It has also acquired 38 MOR Furniture stores in the US and reached a cooperation agreement with the German home brand MC.
Loctek (乐歌股份)
Loctek Ergonomic Technology Corp. was established in 2002, headquartered in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, and is a globally renowned manufacturer and seller of smart home and healthy office products. The company's main products include smart lifting desks, smart electric beds, smart study desks, smart lifting platforms, and fitness chairs. In 2013, Loctek began its cross-border e-commerce business and turned to self-owned brand construction, and its self-owned FlexiSpot independent website was launched in 2016. With 13 years of experience in cross-border e-commerce, Loctek has rich experience in the supply chain of large and heavy goods. It established an overseas distribution center in 2013 and purchased its first overseas warehouse in 2015 to support its main business development. In early 2019, the company realized the strategic significance of overseas warehouses and began planning the systematic construction of its own overseas warehouse project. In 2020, it officially opened third-party overseas warehouse services, providing one-stop cross-border logistics services such as headhaul shipping, one-piece shipping, FBA transit, overseas warehousing, and after-sales hosting. As of 2022, Loctek has established 17 overseas warehouses worldwide, with a total area of nearly 350,000 square meters.
Runner (建霖家居)
Xiamen Runner Health Home Furnishing Co., Ltd. was established in 1990 and is a subsidiary of Runner Group. After years of development and accumulation, the company has formed a strong competitive edge in research and development, design technology, and advanced manufacturing technology, including a relatively complete product line of kitchen and bathroom products such as showers, faucets, water supply and drainage, health care, automotive appliances, and other household and non-household products. To mitigate potential risks from uncertain US-China trade relations, Runner Group established a plant in Thailand in 2019 and launched the construction of Runner Thailand Phase II in 2023, with a total planned production capacity of about 1 billion yuan. In early 2023, Runner Group established a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United States to strengthen its localized service capabilities in overseas markets, fully leveraging the group's diversified platform integration advantages and international product and service strengths. Overall, Runner is vigorously expanding into markets such as Europe, the Belt and Road, North America, and South America.
