Analysis of the Development Trends in the Chinese Office Chair Industry in 2023: Increased Demand for Office Chairs in the Downstream Sector

1.Industry Chain

Office chairs refer to various chairs designed for work convenience in daily work and social activities. In a narrow sense, office chairs specifically refer to the chairs with backrests used when people are seated for desktop work. In a broader sense, office chairs include all chairs used in office settings, such as executive chairs, mid-back chairs, visitor chairs, staff chairs, conference chairs, guest chairs, and training chairs.

From the perspective of the industry chain, the upstream raw materials for office chairs mainly include fabrics, synthetic leather, copper materials, and wood. Office chairs are primarily used in various settings, including businesses, schools, and homes.

2. Upstream Industry Analysis

Fabrics are an essential component of office chairs, determining their appearance, comfort, and other performance characteristics. According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s fabric production has shown a downward trend from 2017 to 2022. In 2022, the fabric production in China was 36.75 billion meters, representing a 7.2% decrease compared to the previous year. The decline can be attributed to the industry being influenced by stricter environmental policies in China and international trade disputes, resulting in low levels of fabric production and profitability in the country. Fabric production has consistently been in a state of reduction, but it has still been able to meet the basic demands of the downstream sector.

In terms of leather, the Chinese leather industry is composed of five main sectors: tanning, footwear manufacturing, leather goods, leather garments, fur, and fur products. It also includes supporting industries such as leather technology, leather chemicals, leather machinery, leather hardware, and footwear materials. After more than 20 years of rapid development, China’s leather industry has formed a complete system encompassing production, operation, research, and talent cultivation. China has become one of the major regions in the world for leather, fur, and their products manufacturing. In 2022, China’s production of synthetic leather reached 530 million square meters.

Copper materials, including pure copper and copper alloys, are used to produce various shapes such as bars, wires, sheets, strips, tubes, and foils. Copper materials are processed through methods such as rolling, extrusion, and drawing. In 2021, China’s copper material production reached 21.235 million tons, representing a 3.8% year-on-year growth. From January to September 2022, China’s copper material production was 16.366 million tons.

China has a long history of development in the timber industry. In 2021, China’s timber production reached 98.88 million cubic meters, which was a decrease of 3.69 million cubic meters compared to 2020, representing a 3.60% year-on-year decline.

3. Midstream Industry Analysis

In recent years, with the increasing number of businesses in China, the market size of office chairs has also shown a steady upward trend. In 2021, the market size reached 30.8 billion yuan, representing a 16.2% year-on-year growth compared to 2020.

Looking at the export scale, the export volume and value of China’s office chair industry have gradually increased from 2017 to 2021. In 2021, the office chair export industry in China was influenced by the overall wave of home furniture exports, resulting in a record high export quantity of 96.26 million units.

Since the 1990s, office furniture products have experienced rapid development. The products mainly include office chairs, office desks, filing cabinets, system furniture (such as screens, desk screen systems, accessories, etc.), and storage cabinets. Office chairs have always maintained a dominant position in both domestic and international office furniture markets. In China, the market share of office chairs accounts for approximately 31% of the entire office furniture market. With the increasing popularity of ergonomics in office furniture design, future office chair designs will focus more on human care, including enhanced comfort in design, greater functional diversity, improved aesthetics, and increased flexibility in components. Looking at the revenue of Yongyi Group and Henglin Group from office chair sales from 2019 to 2021, Yongyi Group has experienced a steady upward trend in operating income, while Henglin Group witnessed a decline in revenue from this business segment in 2021. In 2021, the respective revenues from this business segment were 3.14 billion yuan for Yongyi Group and 2.24 billion yuan for Henglin Group.

Comparing the gross profit margin of Yongyi Corporation and Henglin Corporation in their office chair businesses, both companies have exhibited a trend of initial increase followed by a subsequent decline. In 2021, Yongyi Corporation and Henglin Corporation recorded gross profit margins of 18.4% and 20.6% respectively.

4. Downstream Industry Analysis

Looking at the downstream consumer terminals in China’s office chair industry, office chairs are mainly used in various settings, including corporate, educational, and household environments. As an essential item for office use, the extensive development of office buildings has created a broad market demand for office furniture. In 2021, the sales amount of office buildings in China reached 525.89 billion yuan, further contributing to the growing market demand for office chairs.

The number of enterprises in China has shown a steady upward trend in recent years, increasing from 18.09 million in 2017 to 48.42 million in 2021. Among them, the growth rate in 2021 reached 8.6%.

The above data and information can be referenced from the report titled “2023-2029 China Office Chair Industry Market Status Survey and Investment Prospects Analysis” published by Zhiyan Consulting. Zhiyan Consulting is a comprehensive provider of information and intelligence in the field of industrial consulting in China. The company’s brand philosophy is to “drive industrial development with information and empower enterprise investment decisions.” They provide professional industrial consulting services to enterprises, including high-quality industry research reports, customized services, monthly topics, feasibility reports, business plans, and industry planning. They offer regular reports such as weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports, as well as customized data, covering areas such as policy monitoring, corporate dynamics, industry data, product price fluctuations, investment overview, market opportunities, and risk analysis.