“消暑神器”爆卖 从9.9卖到799 有商家年销10亿

This article centers on how the once low-cost, afterthought handheld fan has evolved into a popular, multi-scenario must-have for beating the heat, with key takeaways and buying guidance below:

1. Category evolution: Previously a low-cost, one-off product priced between RMB 9.9 and 19.9, the category now spans a full price range: from no-name 9.9-yuan entry models to 799-yuan premium options. Currently, products below RMB 50 occupy the low-price segment, RMB 100-150 is the mainstream promotional price zone, and models above RMB 200 target the premium differentiated market. Leading brand Jisulife has already hit RMB 1 billion in annual sales, and the entire industry is projected to grow to RMB 7 billion over the next 3-5 years.

2. Practical buying guide: Don’t get distracted by gimmicky differentiated features like 99-speed settings. The core is to choose based on your actual use case: opt for structurally innovative foldable models for easy storage during daily commutes, pick mist-cooling models for stronger cooling performance, and choose products from established brands such as Gree, Xiaomi and Airmate if you prioritize quality and after-sales service. Overall, consumers are increasingly willing to pay for quality and design, and handheld fans have transitioned from disposable goods to upgradeable personal electronics.

Handheld portable fans have emerged as a fast-growing new market segment. Key takeaways for brands are as follows:

1. Consumer trends and market size: The current brand-side market size across all platforms is around RMB 5 billion, and it is projected to grow to RMB 7 billion over the next 3-5 years. Tmall recorded 160% year-over-year growth for the category in 2026. Handheld fans have transitioned from temporary cooling gear to a high-frequency, everyday essential covering multiple scenarios including commuting, camping, concerts and parent-child activities. Consumers are now willing to pay for quality, design and brand recognition, and the market still has ample room to grow.

2. Product R&D and pricing strategy: The original 9.9-yuan low-price market dynamic has been broken, and a segmented price structure has formed. Brands can position themselves according to their own brand positioning. Leading brands have already planned new product lines years in advance, and the category is showing clear consumer electronics trends. Brands can connect with consumers through feature-focused communication, and R&D should center on real user needs—for example, mist cooling and optimized air outlet structures—while avoiding meaningless gimmicky features.

3. Risk and competition warning: This category is highly seasonal. New entrants should avoid overcommitting to large inventory stocks, and instead control risk by adding orders in batches. Industry consolidation will accelerate in the future, and only brands that combine strong user insight with reliable supply chain delivery will be able to capture growth opportunities from the category upgrade.

Handheld fans are currently a high-potential fast-growing segment. Key takeaways for sellers are as follows:

1. Market opportunity assessment: Handheld fans have transformed from a fragmented, marginal low-price volume category to a branded essential product. The current brand-side market size across all platforms is around RMB 5 billion, projected to grow to RMB 7 billion over the next 3-5 years, with Tmall recording 160% year-over-year growth for the category in 2026. It now accounts for more than 10% of total fan category GMV, with extremely strong growth momentum. It is an attractive segment for both new sellers entering the market and established sellers looking to expand their product portfolios.

2. Entry strategies: Sellers can choose a price segment aligned with their existing resources. No-name small sellers can focus on the sub-RMB 50 low-price volume market, while sellers with brand operation capabilities and supply chain resources can enter the mainstream RMB 100-150 price segment, or the differentiated premium market above RMB 200. Sellers can learn from Jisulife’s playbook of building hit products through incremental motor innovation and exterior design optimization, which drove the brand to RMB 1 billion in annual sales.

3. Risk warning: This category is highly seasonal. Never lock in large inventory volumes upfront. New entrants can follow the example of emerging brand Zuanshi, which sets conservative sales targets and adds orders in batches based on actual sales performance to control inventory risk. Industry consolidation will continue moving forward, and low-cost no-name players will gradually be pushed to the bottom end of the price tier. Sellers need to invest in product upgrades and brand building early to maintain long-term market position.

The ongoing branding and upgrade of the handheld fan category has created new business opportunities for factories. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. Changing product and manufacturing requirements: Previously, handheld fans only focused on low cost and high volume, with low requirements for craftsmanship and quality. With the current category upgrade, consumers now have higher expectations for motor performance, exterior design, structural innovation and material quality. New products such as high-speed motors, innovative storage structures and mist cooling systems require far higher production standards and precision than traditional low-cost models, so factories need to upgrade their production capabilities to match new demand.

2. New business opportunities: A large number of traditional home appliance brands and consumer electronics brands have entered the handheld fan market, and leading brands have already started planning 2027 new product lines. Long-term stable order volume has increased significantly, bringing factories more stable cooperation opportunities and eliminating concerns about insufficient orders.

3. Insights from digitalization and e-commerce development: E-commerce platforms have begun to prioritize this growing category. Factories need to align with the industry upgrade trend by improving process management, quality control and large-scale stable delivery capabilities. As the category moves upstream to premium products, factories that can reliably deliver 100,000 to hundreds of thousands of unit orders are far more likely to secure long-term cooperation with leading brands and capture a share of the category’s growth dividends. The supply chain experience of traditional home appliance factories will become an increasingly valuable advantage amid the premiumization trend.

The handheld fan category is in a period of rapid growth driven by branding and upgrading. Key takeaways for relevant service providers are as follows:

1. Industry development trends: The once fragmented, marginal low-price category has upgraded to a branded, high-frequency essential personal product. The current total market size is around RMB 5 billion, projected to grow to RMB 7 billion over the next 3-5 years. A large number of traditional brands and new consumer brands have entered the market, putting the entire industry in a phase of rapid growth, leading to strong demand for brand-focused services.

2. Core client pain points: The biggest pain point for new entrants is seasonal inventory risk, which often leads to overstock after the peak cooling season. Brands focusing on product innovation frequently face engineering technical challenges and unstable production output in early stages. To educate the market and communicate product features and value through social platforms, brands often lack access to relevant promotion resources.

3. Solutions and opportunities: Service providers can develop targeted service offerings: launch inventory planning consulting to help brands develop a分批 ordering strategy to address inventory pain points; provide engineering R&D support to help brands solve production challenges for innovative structures; and connect brands with review creators and social platform resources to support product seeding and promotion, allowing service providers to capture a share of dividends from the category’s growth.

The rise of handheld fans has created a new growth driver for e-commerce platforms. Key takeaways for platform operators are as follows:

1. Category status and opportunities: Once a fragmented marginal category, handheld fans have now grown into a fast-growing branded segment. It already accounts for more than 10% of total fan category GMV, with Tmall recording 160% year-over-year growth for the category in 2026. The market is projected to grow from RMB 5 billion to RMB 7 billion over the next 3-5 years, making it a high-priority new growth area for platforms.

2. Sourcing and operation direction: Previously, handheld fans were scattered across multiple classifications with inconsistent standards. Platforms can unify category classification to make it easier for consumers to search and purchase. For merchant recruitment, platforms can onboard two types of players: consumer electronics brands with strong user insight and product innovation capabilities, and traditional home appliance brands with supply chain advantages, to cover consumer demand across different price segments. On the operation side, platforms should guide brands to innovate around real user needs, and avoid meaningless gimmicky features that increase consumer decision fatigue.

3. Risk mitigation: Platforms should remind brands of seasonal inventory risk, and guide them to plan orders reasonably to avoid large-scale overstock that hurts operational stability. As the industry consolidates toward leading brands, platforms can prioritize supporting brands with strong product iteration capabilities and supply chain capacity to improve the overall competitiveness of the category on the platform and drive healthy long-term growth.

The category upgrade of handheld fans is a typical case of small-category branding growth. Key research takeaways are as follows:

1. New industry trends: What was once dismissed as a low-margin marginal small category has successfully grown into a new category with 10 billion yuan growth potential by embedding into high-frequency fragmented mobile scenarios such as outdoor activities, commuting and entertainment. Its development path mirrors that of power banks: both transitioned from temporary accessories to essential personal devices. The industry will gradually see higher brand concentration, following the same evolution pattern observed in most consumer electronics categories.

2. Key industry changes: The category shows a clear shift toward consumer electronics. Traditional small home appliances are now adopting the feature-focused communication model of consumer electronics, and horizontal product reviews on social platforms have made product information more transparent. This has forced brands to invest in technology R&D, and successfully opened up new price segments, allowing what was once a 9.9-yuan small category to support a premium market as high as 799 yuan. Leading brand Jisulife has already hit 1 billion yuan in annual sales, proving that small categories can build large successful businesses.

3. New research questions: The industry still faces challenges including fragmentation and strong seasonality, and meaningless gimmicky features from some brands have actually increased consumer decision costs. These issues will need to be resolved in the coming years, and competition will ultimately favor players that combine strong user insight with reliable supply chain delivery. This case offers high sample value for research on small-category upgrade.