In 2016, the sales volume of China's computerized flat knitting machine industry increased significantly compared to the previous year, with a total annual sales volume of about 120000 units, laying a good foundation for the continuous development of the computerized flat knitting machine industry during the "13th Five Year Plan" period. The reasons for the significant increase in sales of computerized flat knitting machines are as follows:
(1) Expansion of flat knitting machine application field
From the perspective of the emerging application field of flat knitting machines, computer based flat knitting machines for weaving upper materials have become the industry's biggest highlight - the improvement of consumer demand for sports shoes performance, promoting innovation in shoe materials, and promoting the promotion and application of computer based flat knitting machines in shoe material production; Due to the large amount of labor required in the cutting and sewing process in traditional shoe material manufacturing, production enterprises can effectively solve the problem of expensive labor and difficult recruitment through computerized flat knitting machine weaving from the supply side. According to the association's statistics, China's computerized flat knitting machines used to produce uppers have achieved explosive growth. From 2014 to 2016, about 1500, 4000, and 30000 new equipment of this type were added.
(2) Accelerated device updates
From the perspective of production equipment requirements, computerized flat knitting machines with high knitting efficiency, close to fashion requirements, and stable operation are favored. From 2009 to 2015, a total of nearly 450000 computerized flat knitting machines were produced and sold in China. In order to improve their competitiveness, sweater manufacturers and processors have invested funds to accelerate the replacement of a large number of old machines purchased in the early years. These stock equipment upgrades have provided an update demand of about 50000 units for 2016.
(3) Foreign replacement demand appears
The international competitiveness of domestic computerized flat knitting machines has steadily increased, and the demand for cost-effective computerized flat knitting machines produced in China by Southeast Asian countries has gradually expanded. According to statistics from the Customs and Textile Machinery Association, between 2012 and 2016, the average annual growth rate of exports reached 19.2%. At present, the knitting industry in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Türkiye and other countries is developing rapidly, and the demand for computerized flat knitting machines is still growing. In addition, as of the end of 2016, there are approximately 400000 hand knitting flat knitting machines in the five countries mentioned above. With the continuous increase in labor costs in the above countries, there is a huge demand for replacement. It is estimated that China's annual export volume of computerized knitting flat knitting machines will reach approximately 30000 units in 2017-2019.
With the development of computerized flat knitting machines for many years, the industry of computerized flat knitting machines has shown the following trends:
(1) Shortened device replacement and update cycle
With the increasing age of use, the components of computerized flat knitting machines gradually age and their performance gradually decreases. According to previous data statistics, the average service life of domestic computerized flat knitting machines is 6-8 years. From 2015 to 2016, with the continuous maturity and updating of production technology, the performance of domestic flat knitting machines continued to improve, and the overall price of the machine decreased. With the continuous increase in labor costs in China, the disadvantages of production efficiency of old equipment become more obvious, while the cost of purchasing new flat knitting machines is lower. Various manufacturers have accelerated the replacement of flat knitting machines, and the flat knitting machine update cycle has been significantly shortened compared to previous years. In 2016, the sales volume of domestic computerized flat knitting machines increased significantly, which fully confirmed this trend. Based on the equipment update of domestic knitting enterprises in 2016, the eliminated flat knitting machines are mainly equipment with a service life of 5-7 years. It is expected that the replacement cycle of computerized flat knitting machines will be further shortened in the future.
(2) Further increase in demand for high-end equipment
In 2015 and 2016, the number of flat knitting machines imported by China from developed countries such as Germany and Japan with a unit price of over 30000 US dollars reached 2231 and 4088, with significant growth in both the quantity and amount of imports. Due to the vigorous development of the knitted shoe material market and the increasing demand for personalized customization of sweaters, the production mode of small batches and multiple batches has gradually become a trend. The flying weaving upper machine and the multi system full forming computerized flat knitting machine represent a shorter production process and the future development direction. With the continuous progress of domestic computerized flat knitting machine technology, the demand for high-end equipment is expected to further increase in the future.
At present, the continuous technological progress from complete machine to parts manufacturing enterprises has strongly supported the development needs of knitting production enterprises. It is expected that in the next three years, China's computerized flat knitting machine industry will continue to maintain a good growth trend - in addition to the upgrading and updating of equipment in the traditional sweater production field, computerized flat knitting machines will continue to expand and extend to industrial fields such as shoe materials and fabrics, automobile seat cushions, and tubular material weaving. It is expected that in 2017, 2018, and 2019, the total sales volume will reach 130000 units, 140000 units, and 155000 units; Computerized flat knitting machines used in shoe material production have maintained a steady growth, with sales reaching 40000, 45000, and 50000 units.