Ms. Zhou, a consumer in Beijing, was impressed by the integrated stove at a friend’s home and planned to install one during her own‑house renovation. Not long ago, the integrated stove was finally delivered to her kitchen. However, she told our reporter that the whole selection and installation process had been genuinely tough. The reporter’s investigation shows that Ms. Zhou’s experience mirrors the slow progress of integrated‑stove penetration in first‑ and second‑tier cities. Industry experts interviewed by our reporter point out that the integrated‑stove sector still has quite a few problems to resolve in pursuing its “rural‑area‑surrounding‑cities” growth strategy.
“My friend’s integrated stove was installed several years ago. I searched online and found many brands available today, yet most of them are not well‑known household‑appliance names. Which one should I pick?” Ms. Zhou once shared her confusion with the reporter.
In recent years, integrated stoves have become high‑growth products in the kitchen‑appliance market. According to data from the White Paper on the Development Trends of the Integrated‑Stove Industry, China’s output of integrated stoves kept rising from 2011 to 2019 and reached approximately 1.42 million units in 2019. Data from Aowei Cloud‑Monitor shows that sales volume hit 2.38 million units worth RMB 17.8 billion in 2020. In the first half of 2021, the overall market size stood at RMB 8.8 billion, representing a 15‑percent year‑on‑year increase. Well‑established names such as Haier and Midea have entered this segment, alongside a growing number of specialized brands. One notable phenomenon in metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai is low public awareness of these specialized brands. Meanwhile, many consumers remain unaware that major home‑appliance giants have also launched integrated‑stove product lines.
“Despite rapid market growth in recent years, integrated stoves still account for a small market volume compared with the traditional home‑appliance industry,” said Long Fei, researcher at the China National Household Electrical Appliances Industry Information Center. At present, third‑ and fourth‑tier cities take up roughly 80 percent of the integrated‑stove market share. Consumers in first‑ and second‑tier cities exhibit strong brand awareness and require an adaptation period before accepting emerging brands.
Zhang Yachen, Secretary‑General of the Sub‑Committee on Kitchen Appliances under the National Household Appliances Standardization Technical Committee, also commented that integrated‑stove products are often priced at several thousand to over ten thousand RMB. Faced with such high‑priced goods, consumers in first‑ and second‑tier cities, who are accustomed to big‑name brands, tend to stick to well‑known manufacturers. Although major home‑appliance enterprises have begun to tap into integrated‑stove business in recent years, their overall number remains limited.
Online‑monitoring statistics from Aowei Cloud‑Monitor indicate that consumer recognition of leading integrated‑stove brands has strengthened, with brand concentration gradually rising. Zhang Xiaozhong, Secretary‑General of the Zhejiang Shengzhou Kitchenware Industry Association, stated that integrated‑stove sales have achieved substantial growth in large cities and attracted increasing public attention.
Incomplete Retail‑Outlet Layout
“When buying such new‑type products, I believe you really need to see them in‑person. Judging merely from online specifications and pictures leaves you uncertain, yet physical stores are hard to find,” Ms. Zhou complained. She first looked up offline‑store distribution of several well‑known integrated‑stove brands across Beijing. Some brands had zero local outlets, while others operated stores only in remote suburban districts. “I have a busy schedule and cannot drive, so visiting those stores is really difficult.” Ms. Zhou added that for conventional large home appliances, customers can view samples in home‑appliance malls. By contrast, integrated‑stove displays appear partly in home‑appliance malls and partly in building‑materials markets, making them hard for unfamiliar shoppers to locate.
According to Long Fei, integrated‑stove displays demand considerable floor space, which is scarce in home‑appliance malls within first‑ and second‑tier cities, resulting in limited in‑mall product showcases. Guo Meide, General Manager of Aowei Cloud‑Monitor, explained that integrated stoves target mainly new‑renovation scenarios and require on‑site matching installation. Featuring strong installation‑dependence and pan‑home‑property attributes, they maintain higher sales proportions in building‑material channels than in home‑appliance retail channels.
Projected survey data from Aowei Cloud‑Monitor reveals that in Q1 2021, the building‑materials‑market segment for integrated stoves reached RMB 1.162 billion, surging 31.6 percent year‑on‑year. Home‑renovation and building‑material channels (including brand‑owned renovation channels) accounted for approximately 32.8 percent of total integrated‑stove retail revenue, a slight year‑on‑year drop of 0.4 percent. This minor decline stems from enterprises’ vigorous promotion of online sales; online‑channel growth slightly outpaced that of building‑material channels.
From Zhang Yachen’s perspective, urban residents in large cities pursue kitchen integrity and visual coordination. A standalone integrated stove can hardly satisfy consumer demands for an integral‑kitchen solution. Although several manufacturers have rolled out whole‑kitchen designs incorporating integrated stoves, insufficient brand recognition hinders acceptance among consumers in first‑ and second‑tier cities. “Scarce retail outlets and weak brand influence reinforce each other, forming another bottleneck restricting integrated‑stove expansion into large‑sized cities,” Zhang Yachen noted.
Imperfect After‑sales‑service System
“My integrated stove is finally installed, yet I am deeply worried whether after‑sales support can keep up,” Ms. Zhou expressed her lingering anxiety even after acquiring her stylish integrated stove. Her concern arose from an unprofessional installation experience. On the delivery day, the delivery crew consisted of a husband‑and‑wife team. While moving the appliance, they scratched her new floor. Moreover, they intended to leave immediately upon unloading the goods and refused to wait for the cabinet‑installation worker. Since coordinated installation between integrated stoves and cabinets is critical, Ms. Zhou had to persuade them repeatedly to stay for the cabinet fitter’s arrival.
Mr. Su, another Beijing consumer, had an even more frustrating experience. He purchased an integrated stove online. The seller arranged delivery via a large‑cargo logistics provider, whose workers would only deliver the goods to the ground‑floor entrance. Helplessly, Mr. Su had to hire a moving company to haul the 200‑jin heavy unit upstairs.
Zhang Xiaozhong frankly acknowledged that many integrated‑stove brands are indeed plagued by incomplete and unstable after‑sales‑installation and service systems. Nevertheless, manufacturers with local physical outlets can offer more reliable after‑sales support. He reminds consumers to check whether target brands maintain local outlets before purchase and to clarify delivery and service details in advance.
Zhang Yachen observed that integrated stoves boast increasingly attractive appearances and growing numbers of built‑in functions. Each function belongs to a distinct technical domain calling for long‑term professional accumulation. Multiple integrated functions also mean more potential failure points and higher fault probabilities. Malfunctions in any component will compromise overall product performance. Poor after‑sales service will not only frustrate end‑users but also generate negative brand publicity.
Product Standards Require Further Improvement
Different integrated‑stove models incorporate varying sub‑assemblies and impose strict matching requirements for cabinet installation. Pre‑installation procedures such as cabinet‑cutout sizing and position layout must follow product‑specific dimensions. However, Ms. Zhou found dimensional discrepancies even among different models from the same brand. “Why cannot we have unified standards?” she wondered.
Regarding product standards for integrated stoves, the newly‑revised national standard GB 16410‑2020 Household Gas Cooking Appliances, effective January 1 2022, has added “integrated stoves” to its scope of application. In other words, integrated stoves share the same standard framework as other gas cookers. The revised standard also introduces dedicated terminology for integrated stoves and specifies clear requirements and test methods covering performance, structure and materials.
Even so, Zhang Yachen holds the view that this standard remains imperfect. He points out that GB 16410‑2020 defines an integrated stove as “an appliance combining a gas‑cooker unit with fume‑extraction equipment, or further equipped with one or more additional functions such as tableware cabinet, oven, induction cooker or storage cabinet”. This definition treats gas‑burner cookers as an indispensable functional unit. “Though this originates from the product‑evolution history and reflects real‑world conditions, standards should not be limited to existing products. For instance, appliances combining electric cookers (including induction cookers) and fume extractors share identical form‑factor features and functional effects. Under the current definition, such products cannot be categorized as integrated stoves,” Zhang Yachen explained.
He further stated that not every product needs a separately‑named dedicated standard. Especially amid rapid technological innovation within the well‑developed home‑appliance‑standard system, most new‑style products can be covered directly or indirectly by existing standards unless they involve disruptive principles or huge‑span technical integration. Special‑purpose independent standards should address mutual‑influence and superposition effects arising from integrating multiple functional modules into one single unit. For integrated stoves, once independent components are assembled together, new challenges emerge concerning heat, water, gas, steam, oil, grease‑scale, total electrical load and power‑deviation that each individual component previously handled under its own separate standard. Examples include accidental water‑circuit damage from dishwashers to live‑electric parts of other modules, or steam emitted by steam‑oven‑grill combinations affecting electrical insulation of adjacent assemblies.
“Nowadays more and more products span multiple technical disciplines. A single integrated‑stove body may integrate technologies and functions related to water supply, electricity, gas supply, communication and networking. Therefore, standard‑setting should be led by the technical committee for its core function, jointly supported by committees for auxiliary functions, so as to achieve more complete and sound standards,” Zhang Yachen concluded.
