While automobile manufacturers are focusing on features like “refrigerators, color TVs, and big sofas,” home appliance manufacturers are starting to penetrate the travel scenario.
At the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, Sharp showcased its LDK+ concept car. This van, about 5 meters long, is equipped with rotating seats, a projector, and a retractable screen inside. It is no longer just a means of transportation but more like a mobile living room, office, or even a home theater.
Sharp, once known as the “Father of Liquid Crystal,” now views cars as “living rooms on wheels” and plans to officially launch this electric vehicle in the fiscal year 2027.

Image source: Sharp
The same story is also happening in China. In China’s home appliance industry, a battle for the full – scenario ecosystem of “people, cars, and homes” has long been raging.
From a global perspective, smart cars are rapidly upgrading from “means of transportation” to “the third living space.”
In this transformation, cars are no longer simple travel tools but mobile spaces that integrate various functions such as living, working, and entertainment. Previously, Huang Hongsheng, the founder of Skyworth Group, referred to new – energy vehicles as “home appliances on wheels,” and this view is being widely recognized in the industry.
Therefore, home appliance giants are vying for the “people, cars, and homes” market. However, there has never been a standard answer for home appliance enterprises’ exploration of the “people, cars, and homes” concept. Based on their technological genes and resource endowments, domestic players operate independently and jointly explore different answers.
In the cross – border car – manufacturing camp, Xiaomi, Sharp, and Dreame are similar. Xiaomi is building a “full ecosystem of people, cars, and homes”; Sharp has released a concept car of a “living room on wheels”; Dreame has directly entered the ultra – luxury pure – electric vehicle track. The core logic of all of them is to regard cars as the next – generation intelligent terminals and get involved in car manufacturing themselves to improve their own ecosystems.

Image source: Dreame
In contrast, traditional home appliance giants choose not to directly manufacture cars but to cooperate deeply with car manufacturers to connect the living scenarios of “people, cars, and homes.”
1. Midea: The most open – ended ecosystem of people, cars, and homes.
Among them, Midea’s layout of the “people, cars, and homes” ecosystem is the most open – ended. In August 2025, Midea officially released a new strategy for smart home, clearly defining the “people, cars, and homes ecosystem” as one of the three core sectors. It breaks down the scenario barriers by forming cross – industry alliances.
Its ecological map already includes multiple forces:
On the mobile phone side, it cooperates with leading brands such as Huawei, vivo, Honor, and OPPO; on the automotive side, it collaborates with car manufacturers such as Hongmeng Zhixing, NIO, and GAC; on the Internet side, it connects to platforms such as Xiaodu and Tmall Genie. It has formed a huge network of hardware complementarity and scenario co – construction.

Image source: Midea
Midea’s wisdom lies in that it does not pursue absolute control of the ecosystem but uses home appliances as the core node and attracts partners through an open IoT developer platform. This strategy of “not seeking ownership but seeking utilization” enables it to complete scenario coverage in a short time.
2. Skyworth: Deeply explore the scenario integration of “car – home integration.”
Different from Midea’s open alliance, Skyworth chooses to focus on the scenario integration of “car – home integration” with its own system as the core. As an early home appliance enterprise involved in vehicle manufacturing, Skyworth Auto uses its self – developed SKYLINK 3.0 intelligent connected system as the key link to connect cars and homes, and has achieved deep connection with home smart devices in models such as the HT – i Intelligent Engine Edition.
To enhance the scenario competitiveness, Skyworth also integrates display technology and health concepts from the home appliance field into the car cockpit, and launches in – car screens with eye – protection functions and in – car air purification systems, trying to reshape the cockpit from a simple driving space into the user’s “second sleeping space.”

Image source: Skyworth
3. Gree: Get involved in car and mobile phone manufacturing.
Gree has taken a dual – end linkage path of “B – end supply chain + C – end terminal.” It has launched an in – car thermal management solution that saves 30% of electricity based on its air – conditioning technology accumulation and has become a core supplier for new – energy vehicle manufacturers. It also uses Gree mobile phones as the central control carrier and realizes the basic linkage between mobile phones, in – car systems, and home appliances through the “Gree Smart Connect” APP.
4. Haier: Layout the automotive Internet through acquisitions.
Haier has also been looking for a suitable niche in the automotive industry. Before acquiring Autohome, the company had already made some strategic layouts in the automotive field. Kataichi, the entity that acquired Autohome, is an automotive Internet platform that Haier has been developing for three years. Its main business includes personalized car customization, car trading, and smart power consumption, providing full – process and full – life – cycle scenario solutions for car use.
Haier Group said that it will leverage its advantages, integrate Kataichi’s online – offline integrated operation, fully empower Autohome, and develop collaboratively in areas such as in – depth user experience, smart hardware connection, and new automotive retail. For Haier itself, cars are becoming more and more like a “mobile home” and can also be a part of building a smart home ecosystem. Perhaps with the help of Autohome, Haier can find more new ideas to expand its business map.
Although these paths have different focuses, their essence is to break down scenario barriers based on their core capabilities and find a precise position in the “people, cars, and homes” ecosystem.
Although the paths are different, when all players enter the same track, the focus of competition emerges. To put it simply, when home appliance giants compete for the “people, cars, and homes” market, the core of all competition is to fight for three things: scenario entry points, user data, and industry standards.
Take the most intuitive “scenario entry point” as an example. In the “people, cars, and homes” ecosystem, there are two key control centers: one is the “master switch” at home, such as an APP or a smart speaker that can control all home appliances; the other is the “intelligent system” in the car, that is, the intelligent cockpit that can operate navigation, entertainment, and connect to home appliances.

Home appliance enterprises have a firm grip on the home entry points through years of smart home layout; car manufacturers naturally control the mobile entry point of cars. Both sides want to extend their influence into each other’s territory.
Therefore, a view has emerged: there will surely be a battle between home appliance giants and car manufacturers in the future.
However, Dianchetong believes that this battle may not be a “life – and – death” situation. Because the entry logics of the two are different. Cross – border players like Xiaomi, Sharp, and Dreame, of course, want to gain market share. But the essence of traditional home appliance giants entering the automotive circle is that “cars are an extension of the home scenario,” and they don’t really want to participate in the travel industry. Most of them want to cooperate for win – win results and complement each other’s advantages.
This complementarity determines the inevitability of cooperation. Home appliance enterprises have a mature smart home ecosystem, AIoT technology accumulation, and a large C – end user base, and they understand the user needs in the home scenario well; while car manufacturers control the core mobile terminal of cars and have professional capabilities in vehicle manufacturing, power systems, and travel scenario operation. The cooperation between the two is essentially the integration of scenarios and the complementarity of capabilities.
The cooperation between Midea and smart car enterprises such as Hongmeng Zhixing, NIO, and GAC is a typical example. In August this year, Midea joined hands with car manufacturers, mobile phone manufacturers, Internet platforms, and other ecological partners to build an open “people – car – home” platform, sharing a unified object model, SDK, and API with all partners. Car manufacturers can reuse the 118 million device data and AI capabilities accumulated by Midea, reducing the development cost of “home – controlled cars.”

Image source: NIO
This cooperation allows both sides to give full play to their advantages in their respective fields and jointly create a seamless “car – home integration” experience for users.
And “professional players” are emerging in niche tracks. Not all enterprises need to participate in the competition for ecological dominance. Enterprises such as TCL CSOT and Gree can become “professional suppliers” in the ecosystem with their core technological advantages. TCL CSOT focuses on in – car displays, and Gree focuses on in – car thermal management. They do not control the ecological sovereignty but occupy a core position in the supply chain with their technological barriers and obtain stable revenues.
Going back to the beginning, the appearance of Sharp’s LDK+ concept car is actually a small example of the ecological transformation of the “people, cars, and homes” scenario. The growth of the traditional home appliance market has slowed down, and smart cars are no longer just for transportation but have become a “mobile living space.” So everyone is starting to compete for the entry point of this full – scenario market.
Midea forms alliances, Skyworth explores scenarios, TCL relies on display technology, Xiaomi builds a closed – loop ecosystem, Huawei provides technology, and Gree focuses on the supply chain. There is no absolute good or bad among these methods; they are just the paths chosen by enterprises according to their own advantages and market conditions.

As for the relationship between home appliance enterprises and car manufacturers, it is not simply enemy or friend but a combination of competition and cooperation. The essence of this industry is actually very simple: In the full – scenario era of “people, cars, and homes,” there are no permanent opponents, only permanent user needs. The competition between different ecosystems is ultimately to better meet people’s pursuit of a better life.
Therefore, we don’t need to be obsessed with “who will defeat whom.” The future pattern is more likely to be a “stratified competition”:
At the top are a few “ecosystem masters” who master operating systems and AI capabilities. They set the rules and build the stage; in the middle are a large number of “ecosystem participants,” including most car manufacturers and home appliance brands. They choose to join one or more ecosystems and seek differentiation within the established framework; at the bottom are “core component suppliers.” They become the indispensable cornerstone of all ecosystems with their technological barriers.
As for who will be the “ecosystem master,” who will be the “ecosystem participant,” and who will be the “core component supplier,” these roles are not yet determined, and everyone is still exploring.
But it is certain that the end of the competition is not the victory of a certain enterprise but the real arrival of an era of “user sovereignty.” When technology matures and ecosystems are interconnected, the power of choice will be completely returned to the users. Users will vote with their feet and choose the ecosystem that can best understand their needs and provide convenience and pleasure for their lives.
The focus of enterprise competition will also completely shift from “how can I sell more hardware” to “how can I become an irreplaceable service provider in users’ high – quality lives.” Eventually, cars will truly become “mobile living rooms,” and the scenarios at home and in the car can be seamlessly connected, and technology will truly integrate into daily life.
This article is from “Dianchetong” and is published by 36Kr with authorization.
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