AI, 5G breathing new life into appliances

Chefs, party hosts can all look forward to some high-tech culinary assistance

Refrigerators that can monitor the freshness of foods, help users order ingredients and recommend recipes via analyzing user habits and preferences have become a reality in people's daily lives.

Some people can now easily control almost every home appliance through voice commands, facial recognition and remote use of mobile devices. Thanks to superfast 5G wireless technology, which has the advantages of high speed, large capacity and low latency, China's intelligent home appliance industry is poised to usher in new development opportunities, industry experts said.

Shipments of smart home equipment in China reached 230 million units in 2021, and the figure is expected to reach 540 million units in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.4 percent over the next five years, said a report released by global market research firm International Data Corp.

Traditional home appliance manufacturers are accelerating steps to launch smart home products like air conditioners, televisions, refrigerators and washing machines by applying state-of-the-art 5G, artificial intelligence and the internet of things technologies. IoT refers to a network of objects with software or sensors that allow data exchanges.

Haier Smart Home, a subsidiary of China's largest home appliance manufacturer, Haier Group, has built a 5G-powered IoT ecosystem by providing customized solutions that tie together multiple home appliance products.

The IoT ecosystem is powered by Haier's industrial internet platform COSMOPlat, a new type of manufacturing automation that combines advanced machines, internet-connected sensors and big data analysis to boost productivity and reduce industrial production costs.

Clients or users could be involved in the process of product design, research and development, production, manufacturing, sales and marketing.

For instance, Haier's "internet of clothing" includes not only machines that wash but those that can also oversee everything to do with clothing, including styles, shopping, storage and other functions.

"In the era of 5G and IoT, what users need are not homogeneous products, but customized solutions to meet personalized lives. We are willing to introduce tailor-made services for more families," said Li Huagang, president of Haier Smart Home.