(Yicai) March 20 -- Over 1,000 leading global home appliance and consumer electronics companies gathered at the four-day 2025 Appliance and Electronics World Expo in Shanghai to highlight the latest developments in artificial intelligence-powered products.

AWE 2025 kicked off under the theme "AI Technology, AI Life" at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre today. The annual event, organized by the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, is one of the world's three major home appliances and consumer electronics exhibitions.

AI and home appliances are deeply integrated, said Jiang Feng, executive director of the CHEAA. DeepSeek has sparked a new AI wave, providing a breakthrough path for home appliance upgrades and new development opportunities for smart home appliances, Jiang added.

This year's AWE will exhibit many appliances incorporating AI models, with the tech becoming an essential driver for product innovation and enhanced user experience, Jiang pointed out.

Whether AI home appliances can trigger a new consumption wave depends on user experience, product pricing, technological refinement, ecosystem coordination, and other key factors, Peng Xiandong, general manager of GFK Zhongyikang's large home appliance division, told Yicai. AI home appliances must provide consumers with experiences and value that differ from previous products at acceptable prices, Peng added.

Integrating AI in home appliances has become an industry consensus, noted Xie Fan, vice president of JD.Com and GM of the firm's home appliances division. AI-powered home appliances still need breakthroughs in technology and user experience, Xie said, adding that AI applications have many tiers, with platforms and brands allying to promote such products.

China's smart home appliances have been evolving for over a decade, with continuous upgrades to individual smart products, according to veteran industry expert Liu Buchen. The next important step is the transition toward whole-house intelligence, Liu said.

The large language model DeepSeek-R1's popularity and accelerated integration with home appliances will help upgrade user interactions with such AI products, Liu noted. Good user experiences and a well-developed industry ecosystem with upstream and downstream collaboration are essential to ensure the continuous improvement of user experiences with AI home appliances, Liu pointed out.

AI empowers home appliance manufacturers' entire research, production, and sales process, said Li Huagang, chairman and president of Haier Smart Home. The tech has shortened Haier's product development cycle by 20 percent, improved production efficiency by 30 percent, and accelerated order response time by 13 percent, Li added.

"Either evolve with AI or be marginalized by it," according to Li Pan, VP and overseas GM of Haier.

"AI brings new opportunities for the home appliance industry," said Zhang Xiaoping, chairman of Jiangxi Siping Retail Chain. It empowers a new round of globalization for China's home appliance sector, including more efficient research and development, improved supply chains, advanced direct-to-consumer models, and smarter eco platforms, Zhang noted.

Editor: Martin Kadiev