As 2026 begins, the kitchen appliance sector has entered a new era of intense stock-market competition. On August 25, a key industry forum looking at kitchen appliance market development in the year ahead was held in Tianjin, bringing together housing experts, major property developers, top appliance brands and channel representatives. The focus was on how appliance makers can better work with the construction and design sectors to support the national push for better quality housing.
The event also saw the release of a report on key trends for quality kitchens and appliances in 2026. During the forum, the Vatti Hidden Series Range Hood Y9 was selected for the National Appliance Information Centre's product library as a premium supply product, thanks to its semi-integrated design and advanced fume extraction technology. A senior product manager from Vatti took part in a roundtable discussion on the AI-driven kitchen revolution, sharing insights on how the company is putting AI to practical use in the kitchen and working with partners across the sector.
Where opportunity lies in a maturing market
Government policy clearly points to building homes that are safe, comfortable, green and smart, and this year marks the start of a major new planning cycle. With subsidies coming to an end and the property sector continuing to adjust, kitchen appliance makers are now fighting for share in a mature market. This forum was designed to help the industry navigate the shift, with discussions centring on AI adoption, replacing old appliances with new ones, and building stronger links across different industries.
The trends report published at the event highlights a move away from simply adding features, toward delivering lifestyle value. AI has become the engine driving change in the kitchen, and this year's focus areas include flexible design that adapts to changing needs, proactive AI management, coordinated appliance sets, green operations across the full lifecycle and kitchens as social spaces for the whole family. These themes align well with Vatti's long-term product strategy. Its integrated cabinet-appliance matrix pairs ultra-thin built-in designs with deep integration between appliances and cabinetry, supporting both adaptable spaces and kitchen aesthetics. Its smart home platform links products across categories, with AI-powered auto smoke control delivering proactive management. The company also pushes bundled appliance sets and high energy efficiency ratings, while its product philosophy of being functional, attractive and easy to clean turns the kitchen into a shared space for the entire household.
Why the Y9 stands out
The selection of the Vatti Hidden Series Range Hood Y9 as a premium supply product is a clear reflection of where the industry is heading. The Y9 brings together Vatti's expertise in ultra-thin design and self-cleaning technology. Its semi-integrated look combines hidden aesthetics with strong extraction performance, delivering a powerful airflow of 32 cubic metres per minute and maximum static pressure of 1600 pascals, so smoke and fumes from high-heat wok cooking are captured the moment they rise. The unit features a fifth-generation steam-cleaning system certified as internationally leading, with a cleaning rate of 99.2% and sterilisation rate of 99.99%. A 24-hour sentinel mode uses real-time air quality monitoring to shift the hood from simply extracting smoke to actively managing the kitchen environment.
Market data backs up the product's credentials. Last year, Vatti ranked first in both sales volume and revenue for ultra-thin low-suction range hoods in online channels, and also led the market in self-cleaning range hood sales across all channels. The Y9's inclusion in the premium product library is therefore a reflection of both technical strength and consumer recognition.
AI should lighten the load, not add to it
Speaking at the roundtable discussion, Vatti's product management lead offered a clear view on what the better housing policy means for the appliance industry. He described it as a certain positive for kitchen appliances and the broader home appliance sector, noting that the rollout of housing standards will drive rapid adoption of smart kitchen appliances, since these are an integral part of a quality home. He also pointed out that better housing standards set a benchmark for renovating older properties, which will in turn spur structural replacement demand for appliances.
He stressed that kitchen appliances should be considered a key part of a good home, not just an add-on after construction is complete. The industry needs to get involved earlier in the design and specification stages, working closely with builders and interior designers. This view echoed the wider consensus of the forum - that quality appliances are to a good home what the brain is to the body, both part of the whole and essential to its function.
On the current state of AI in kitchen appliances, he was straightforward in saying the industry is still in its early stages and has yet to solve the real problems in the kitchen environment. Kitchens involve complex conditions and a lot of fine-grained operations, making AI deployment difficult. There also remain unresolved industry-wide issues: the cost of smart modules still needs to come down, and while cross-brand connectivity exists at the communication protocol level, true semantic-level standards are still missing. Different brands define cooking scenarios in different ways, which forces consumers to choose between sticking with one brand across the whole home or picking the best product in each category.
Given these challenges, he argued that the real value of AI lies in reducing burden, not adding it. This reflects Vatti's consistent philosophy of making technology invisible while making the experience tangible. Its AI development focuses on genuine pain points in Chinese cooking, using technology to cut through the hassle of smoke and cleaning. Through scene awareness, smart interaction and connected experiences, the whole kitchen works together as one intelligent system. The goal is not to replace cooking with technology, but to lower the barrier to Chinese cooking and preserve the enjoyment of it, letting technology serve the cooking process itself.
This approach is already being applied across Vatti's product range. Its dishwashers feature an AI washing function that uses turbidity sensing to automatically select the right wash cycle, removing the need for manual settings. Its wall-hung boilers use AI heating controls that work in tandem with thermostats to calculate and maintain comfortable home temperatures while keeping energy use efficient.
The competitive edge that counts
In a stock market phase, product strength is the core confidence that carries a company through cycles. Guided by its strategy of building appliances that are functional, attractive and easy to clean, Vatti applies better housing requirements across the entire process, catering both to newly built furnished homes and the vast stock of older homes undergoing renovation as part of urban renewal efforts. By the end of last year, Vatti held a cumulative total of 4,938 patents, including 775 related to easy-cleaning technology. This steady accumulation of technical expertise provides solid support for the company's continued progress.
Looking ahead, Vatti will continue to anchor on user value, deepen its work in AI kitchen appliances and clean kitchen technology, and strengthen collaborative creation with partners across real estate, home improvement and design, making quality kitchen appliances the soul of a good home and supporting high-quality development of the kitchen appliance industry.