Global market for personal care appliances to be powered by emerging markets

A growing body of research is pointing to a bright future for the personal care appliances market, with the latest study from Allied Market Research showing that the hair care category and emerging markets is where it’s at.

Entlitled ‘Global Personal Care Electrical Appliances Market. 2013 – 2020’, the report estimates that the market will continue to grow at a CAGR of 7.1% during a seven year period to reach a total value of $22.8bn by 2020.

On a category basis, the report highlights how the main driving force behind the growth is hair care, with both hair care appliances and hair removal appliances collectively capturing approximately 75% of the global market.

Drilling down further, growth of these hair care appliances is expected to be more weighted by hair removal appliances, as laser technology continues to grow increasingly effective and consumers warm to it. The study also notes that this could mean a downturn for the razors and shavers category.

All about hair care appliances

And on a global basis, it is North America that is by far the largest market for such hair care appliances presently, and is also forecast to hold on to this position throughout the seven year study period.

However, adoption rates for hair care appliances is growing at a far faster pace in both the APAC and LAMEA regions.

The Allied Market researchers point out that the main reason for this is that the European and North America markets have already reached saturation levels, particularly for products such as hair dryers and straighteners.

In emerging markets growth is from a smaller base but is being driven by a growing supply of technologically advanced and increasingly targeted appliances, with manufacturers concentrating their efforts on the India and China markets on the back of economic growth.

China as a hub for appliance manufacturing

China has evolved as a global manufacturing hub of late, and this is reflected in the growing number of facilities in the country that are focused on the manufacturing of personal care appliances.

A lot of this has come about from the bigger international manufacturers – which are estimated to account for 70% of total global manufacturing - shifting their manufacturing from West to East, but it is also being fueled by a growing number of domestic players.

The report does caution on future growth in China though, particularly as the Renminbi is gaining on international currencies and manufacturing costs are rising, mainly on the back of increased salary demands.

The researchers predict that this situation in China will see a shift in manufacturing towards more product differentiation and innovation that will lead to a new generation of more sophisticated products coming out of the country.

At the same time, the researchers also point out that the reconfiguring of manufacturing bases and distribution channels should ultimately serve to lower the final price of personal care appliances, making them more amenable to a broad consumer base.