Huatai Securities: AI Empowerment and Product Innovation Will Become Important Growth Points for Tech Consumer Enterprises in 2026

Huatai Securities believes that by 2026, AI empowerment and product innovation will become key growth drivers for technology consumer companies. The sectors of smart home, cleaning appliances, smart hardware, AI glasses, NAS, and others will accelerate their iterations. Platform-based companies are expected to leverage their ecological advantages to capture market share, and undervalued tech consumer companies may also see valuation reassessment opportunities.

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Huatai | Home Appliances: Observations from the China AWE Exhibition - Embracing AI, Enjoying Smart Life

Key Points

From March 12 to 15, the 2026 China Home Appliances and Consumer Electronics Expo (AWE2026) was held in Shanghai. As an annual industry indicator, this year’s theme was “AI Technology · Smarter Future.” Through on-site visits and inspections of the exhibition halls, we found that Chinese home appliance companies are no longer solely focused on product parameters like suction power and battery life, or simple product displays. Instead, they are paying more attention to spatial expression and ecological integration. Additionally, AI has shifted from an “optional feature” to an essential component of industry innovation. Robots are moving beyond flashy demonstrations toward real scenarios that involve household services and labor. We see AWE as an important window to observe the application of AI and robotics in consumer markets. We are optimistic about investment opportunities in the tech consumer sector and valuation re-evaluation of home appliance companies driven by AI empowerment and product innovation in 2026.

Trend 1: From “Tools” to “Partners,” Embodied Intelligence Reshaping Home Appliance Positioning

Home appliances, represented by cleaning devices, are beginning to develop “brains” (large models) capable of understanding scenarios and intentions; “senses” (visual perception, voice interaction) to perceive humans and environments; and “hands and feet” (robotic arms, bionic structures) to proactively perform unstructured household tasks like folding clothes and cooking. We believe the next decade will be a golden era for large-scale commercialization of household robots. Stone Tech’s G-Rover made its debut at this exhibition, equipped with dual mechanical legs to clean stairs and traverse complex terrains, achieving a leap from 2D ground cleaning to 3D spatial cleaning. Ecovacs launched its first home service robot “Eight Realm” with OpenClaw, capable of recognizing and organizing scattered items, as well as autonomously dividing spaces and returning objects to designated areas.

Trend 2: Under AI Empowerment, Traditional Home Appliances Are Rejuvenated, and Smart Hardware Iterates Faster

With advances in AI technology, the logic of traditional home appliances is transforming—from passive response to user commands to proactive observation, understanding, and service. Huawei’s Mate TV allows users to cast content from their phones via gestures and identifies family members’ faces and voices to deliver personalized content. Hisense’s RGB-MiniLED features AI panoramic World Cup functions, supporting pre-match previews, immersive viewing during matches, and post-game reviews. AI development is also shifting interaction interfaces from traditional mobile apps to smart wearables like glasses, rings, and wristbands. Boss Appliances launched its first AI cooking glasses, and Thunderbird Innovation X3 Pro partnered with Amap to release the first local lifestyle app for smart glasses, “Thunderbird Smart Life,” which can directly recognize merchant ratings, customer spending, and feature tags.

Trend 3: Moving from “Product Displays” to “Ecological Construction,” Building Intelligent Ecosystems

As technology matures, we believe future industry competition will no longer focus solely on parameter comparisons but on companies’ strategic resilience and ecological building capabilities, creating smoother and more comprehensive user experience loops. For example, Chasing Dream’s theme at this exhibition was “ALL IN DREAME,” featuring eight independent booths extending from cleaning appliances to whole-house smart systems, smart mobility, space and universe exploration, energy, and chip computing power. Haier launched AI Eye 2.0, integrating its capabilities into various household scenarios—helping refrigerators recognize food types and recommend storage zones, automatically adjusting preservation environments based on food characteristics. They also introduced household robots, including embodied cleaning robots and companion robots, covering user needs across all ages and scenarios, progressing from “replacing human chores” to “unmanned chores.”

We reaffirm our positive outlook on investment opportunities in the tech consumer sector and the valuation re-evaluation of home appliance companies.

We believe that in 2026, AI empowerment and product innovation will be key growth drivers for tech consumer enterprises. Sectors such as smart home, cleaning appliances, smart hardware, AI glasses, and NAS will accelerate their iterations. Platform companies are expected to leverage ecological advantages to gain market share, and undervalued tech consumer companies may see valuation reassessment opportunities. We recommend: 1) Leading tech consumer companies with AI + growth; 2) Home appliance leaders with safety margins and attractive valuations.

Risk Tips: Risks of product/technology innovation falling short of expectations; increased competition; trade friction risks. This report includes information on unlisted companies or stocks not covered, based on objective public information, and does not constitute recommendations or coverage opinions from our research team.