For the construction and ceramics industry, the most anticipated highlight of rock slabs is cross-border applications.
It can not only be used as an upgraded version of ceramic tiles for indoor floors, walls and building exterior walls, but can also be used as a new type of plate to replace stone, glass, metal, wood and other plates for home customization - kitchen and bathroom (cabinets and Bathroom countertops, door panels), furniture (wardrobe finishes, TV countertops and door panels, dining table and coffee table tops), stairs, integrated ceilings, and can even be applied to home appliances (panels) and yachts (decks)...
In a word, "Stone slabs have no boundaries. Wherever slabs are used, slabs can be found." Many people in the industry believe that in the home decoration market of more than 4 trillion yuan, slate will have a share of 200 billion yuan.
It should be based on the imagination of such a huge potential market. In just over a year from the beginning of 2020 to now, Chinese ceramic builders have invested in construction at a speed that shocked their foreign counterparts. More than a hundred slate production lines have also pushed slate to the C position and the altar.
However, the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.
The 200 billion market has not been seen, and the slate encountered setbacks first. In the second half of 2020, the development momentum of small rock slabs took a sharp turn, from a hot market to a liquidation. Some manufacturers ridiculed, "The products have just left the kiln, and they are about to be cleared. No one wants them even at discounts." This year, it has become the norm for rock slab companies to liquidate their warehouses, shut down kilns, and dare not ignite the production lines they have built. Someone broke the news that some large manufacturers "did not sell a single rock slab in June."
Today, Brother Chan tried to use the development of slate in the field of furniture as an example to explore the future of slate by combining theory with practice.
Theoretically:
In the field of furniture, the possibility of slate replacing wood is very small
When it comes to furniture, I believe that the first thing that comes to mind for most people is wood.
Yes, wood is the oldest and most commonly used material for furniture, whether in China, which has a wood complex and wood culture for thousands of years, or in the West, which likes to use stone as building materials. This has laid the foundation for mankind’s common material understanding of furniture. It is also why most people think of wood when they talk about furniture.the root cause.
In the development process of the furniture industry, "new materials" often drive new design trends and give consumers a different experience. With the development of the times, stone, fabric, leather, glass, metal, plastic, etc. have gradually become commonly used embellishment or mix-and-match materials for furniture, bringing consumers a different feeling from wood; the application of slate in the field of furniture is undoubtedly also This situation.
In this regard, we should be clearly aware that although a variety of new materials with their own advantages are constantly used in the field of furniture, they have never replaced the status of wood in the field of furniture. Wood is still the most commonly used main material in furniture so far. material.
It is undeniable that slate has many advantages such as "simple and elegant, infinite extension, veneer panelization, cross-border application, rich texture, strong plasticity, anti-destructive strength, acid and alkali resistance, wear resistance, and anti-fouling". It is Excellent material for use as furniture tops and finishes. But no matter how many advantages it has, including the imitation of real wood and stone textures, slate is still slate. It always gives people a cold and stiff feeling like ceramic tiles, without the unique "temperature" of wood.
Therefore, even if slate is superior to mainstream furniture materials such as wood in terms of environmental performance and physical properties, it will never be able to meet people's emotional needs for the "temperature" of furniture, and it is impossible to replace wood in the field of furniture.
Actually:
In the field of furniture, there are many problems with slate
As for the problems that rock slabs have in the field of furniture, they are mainly reflected in three aspects.
First, the problem is inherent in the material.
As a pottery builder, to be fair, rock slabs certainly have the characteristics of "simple and elegant, infinite extension, decorative panelization, cross-border application, rich texture, strong plasticity, anti-destructive strength, acid and alkali resistance, wear resistance, and anti-fouling" There are many advantages, but when it is applied to furniture such as dining tables, coffee tables, etc., the effect is not as good as marble and wood.
Looking at the slate dining table alone, it is indeed beautiful. Especially those who know that slate has excellent damage resistance, acid and alkali resistance, wear resistance, and anti-fouling will find it extremely classy, but it is different from the solid wood dining table.Comparing the table with the marble-topped dining table, the difference is obvious: the warmth is not as good as that of the solid wood dining table, the reason has been mentioned before, so I will not go into details here; the texture is not as good as that of the marble-topped dining table, because the slate cannot be as truly full-body as natural marble. In addition, the current stone slab designs and colors are very single, which cannot meet the needs of consumers in terms of designs and colors.
In the field of mid-to-high-end furniture, the price difference between slate dining tables, solid wood dining tables, and marble dining tables is very small. When consumers face dining tables made of three materials at the same time, they are naturally more inclined to choose a solid wood dining table with better warmth or a marble dining table with better texture.
The second is the issue of product quality and processing application.
Because many construction and ceramics companies blindly followed the trend and invested in building rock slab production lines, the production capacity of rock slabs was quickly saturated and prices continued to plummet. The quality of the slabs was deeply affected, and the supporting supporting facilities for processing and application of the slabs were not kept up in time.
These two situations have caused rock slabs to go to the market through rock slab processing plants and furniture manufacturers. The road is not smooth. On the one hand, the price of mid-to-high-end slate furniture remains high, but the effect is not as good as that of solid wood and marble furniture, which cannot attract consumers; on the other hand, the price of low-end slate furniture is as low as hundreds of yuan and comes with free shipping. However, the results are generally good, the quality is not guaranteed, and it also fails to attract consumers.
Subject to product quality and processing applications, it is reasonable that the market sales of slate furniture are limited.
The third problem is that it has a low status among furniture materials.
This is a cruel fact that pottery builders are unwilling to accept but have to say and face head-on.
Although a piece of slate furniture, especially dining tables and coffee tables, is named after slate, the only place where slate is actually used is the countertop, and it is highly replaceable. Even if slate is not used, Wood, stone, glass, metal, etc. can be used. In other words, slate has a very limited status among furniture materials, and the value it creates for furniture and furniture manufacturers is also very limited. Coupled with the inherent problems of slate material and product quality, processing and application problems, so far no furniture customization company has focused on the slate furniture market. It has only been used as a tentative material on a small scale, and furniture companies have only used slate. Slab furniture is one of the highlights to attract consumers, but it is far from the whole. Neither of them has well publicized and popularized the advantages of slate to consumers.
Taking a step back, even if slate has a certain market size in the field of furniture, slate companies are also very important in it.It is difficult to have the right to dominate, and it is difficult to afford the price of slate as a mere material.
Through theory and practice - mainly from the situation learned from the "National Ceramic Ceramics Market Survey" of China Ceramics Network, Brother Chan believes:
First of all, in the future, the status of slate in the field of furniture will most likely be like glass and metal. It is impossible to replace wood, but it can be used as a supplementary material for embellishment and mix-and-match. There is a market, but it is difficult to become mainstream. .
Secondly, it will be extremely difficult for stone slab companies to build a brand in the furniture field where they have no dominant position. It is more reliable to take the stone slab branding route and start and develop efforts elsewhere.
If slate companies regard the furniture field as the hope of slate, they will most likely end up in despair.
As a family, you are welcome to buy bricks.
(Author: Chan Can)
