From "charging price shockers" to "user experience", shared power banks are still advancing amidst transformation.

How will shared power banks be remembered and talked about in 2025?

When you casually open a social platform and search, the posts that appear are often "I encountered a power bank price gouger", or "I went to three places but still couldn't return the power bank", and "Posts to avoid when renting power banks". And if you hope to learn about the business of shared power banks, some discouraging posts such as "I was deceived when investing in a shared power bank project", "Poor quality and no warranty", "As a side business, I lost XX yuan in the first month with shared power banks" will come into view.

As the shared power bank industry reaches the middle stage, the doubts are increasing - customers are making more complaints, and agents are constantly complaining. Some people even ask, "Has the story of shared power banks come to an end?"

The leading players who don't want to sink into the quagmire are once again taking the initiative to innovate themselves.

On April 1, 2025, Zhumang Technology, the parent company of "Jiedian" and "Soudian", held a new product launch event and introduced a new product that had been in development for seven years - the Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro. Different from the existing products on the market, this product aims at every pain point of users and agents, showing a strong ambition - to be a disruptor of the industry ecosystem.

01

Under the "Two Curses", Will the Shared Power Bank Industry Disappear?

For an industry, the biggest crisis often lies not in being surpassed, but in being forgotten and abandoned. From the initial emergence of the trend to maturity and then to frequent problems, the shared power bank industry now seems to be playing an old tune.

A rather impactful background is that many mobile phone manufacturers are focusing on batteries, and the battery life of mobile phones is gradually improving. Coupled with the arrival of fast charging, a phone can be charged to 80% in just a dozen minutes. In contrast, the charging speed of many shared power banks is still relatively slow, and doubts arise spontaneously - "Who will still pay for shared power banks?"

Behind the disappointment, will the demand really disappear?

Although the configuration and average battery capacity of mobile phones are increasing, people's dependence on mobile phones is also deepening, and the power consumption is also increasing. According to the "Survey Data on the Development Status and Consumption Behavior of the Chinese Shared Power Bank Industry" released by iiMedia Research, 22.95% of consumers still almost always run out of battery power. 26.79% of consumers said that they do not carry a power bank when going out and will look for a shared power bank when their phone runs out of power. 51.98% of consumers said that they carry a power bank when going out and will use a shared power bank when their own power bank runs out of power.

Source: "Survey Data on the Development Status and Consumption Behavior of the Chinese Shared Power Bank Industry" by iiMedia Research

This also shows indirectly that the immediate charging demand for mobile phones always exists. Especially in scenarios with immediate demand such as dining, traveling, and entertainment, shared power banks are still a solution. Data shows that in 2023, the overall activity of Chinese shared power bank users rebounded, and the average monthly active users of leading brands reached 48.9 million.

But in the business world, as long as the "demand" truly exists, there must be more than one form of supply. If the product performance and user experience of shared power banks cannot keep up, how big is the window left for them?

Searching for "shared power banks" on the HeiMao Complaint Platform will yield nearly 30,000 complaint contents. Among them, problems such as slow charging, random deductions, and difficulty in returning after easy borrowing are the most concentrated. Some consumers said that "it only charged 45% in an hour and was still not fully charged", and some also said that "the power bank was returned but the charging continued, and the 99-yuan fee made the student depressed and sad". The price of some power bank rental points has risen to nearly 10 yuan per hour, which has also discouraged many people. A blogger summarized, "Nowadays, shared power banks are no longer serving consumers, but punishing them."

The bottleneck of the industry is not only on the "user" side; agents are also very exhausted.

Disputes between agents and brand owners have often appeared in the public eye in recent years. Incidents caused by faulty power banks and aging batteries often occur. Coupled with the generally high equipment maintenance costs and extremely fierce market competition, the days of many agents are "not easy".

Uncontrollable situations mean costs. Some agents even said, "Don't enter the market without 1 million yuan." The after-sales statistics of Zhumang Technology also show that in the past six months, shared power bank agents have had many pain points in aspects such as seizing locations, being unable to "replenish power banks", product quality, and after-sales maintenance.

In addition, if the brand an agent represents cannot become the recognized first choice of users locally, it is difficult for the agent's revenue to cover the costs. Under heavy pressure, shared power banks seem to have become a "hot potato". "Can money still be made in this industry?" has become another curse hanging over the minds of participants.

Looking back, in the past decade, the shared power bank industry has experienced its "glory" and "pain". The industry emerged in 2014, and the stage of educating users and growing wildly before 2019 is generally regarded as the "1.0 era", forming the pattern of "Three Power Banks and One Beast". Subsequently, in the "2.0 era", the concentration of the shared power bank industry increased. Monster Charging, Meituan, and Zhumang Technology, with a combined market share of about 90%, entered the first echelon. In 2023, the combined market share of the top five brands in the industry had reached as high as 96.6%.

However, during the process of the stable pattern, the problems of user experience and product performance still have not been solved, and the business efficiency has also reached a bottleneck. iiMedia Research mentioned in the "Research Report on the Chinese Shared Power Bank Industry in 2024" that "at this stage, as capital tightens, improving self-hematopoietic ability is the key for shared power bank enterprises to ensure stable development and healthy operation."

What the hematopoietic ability depends on is still product ability and user experience. After all, the charging speed, stability, cost-effectiveness, reliability, etc. of the product will directly affect user usage rate and satisfaction.

A person in the industry summarized to 36Kr, "In the future, the competition in the shared power bank industry will essentially be a competition for user experience." Whoever can gain the favor of more users can go further. The opposite of this is even more cruel - if the user experience cannot be improved, neither brand owners nor agents can benefit, and the industry will eventually disappear.

This is true for brand owners and agents alike. Only by relying on a brand with continuous innovation motivation and ability, starting from both product and operation ends, and building better service quality and user experience, can one stand out.

02

In the 3.0 Era, Zhumang Technology Wants to Win the Future with Products

Most of the time, the "evolution" node of an industry requires leading players to face the past and actively break the status quo. Zhumang Technology's position in the shared power bank industry is the same.

"There is obvious progress, but it has not led the way." This is Zhumang Technology's self-summary of the past stage. At the press conference on April 1, it was mentioned that in the 2.0 era of the industry, the defective rate of Zhumang Technology's new products decreased by 76% in 12 months. After the launch of high-capacity power banks, the average customer price increased by 7%. It also made representative screen machine innovations such as the Little Giant and the Thousand-Faced, but "it is still some distance from being the users' first choice".

Behind users' recognition is the "leading degree" of product performance, and the effectiveness of product iteration depends on users' "real pain points". The "Research Report on the Chinese Shared Power Bank Industry in 2024" shows that charging speed, power bank capacity, and ease of access are the most important factors for consumers when choosing a power bank.

This also constitutes the problem-solving point targeted by Zhumang's new product - it is reported that the newly released Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro is the industry's first super fast-charging power bank with a capacity of 10,000 mAh and 22.5W. An intuitive explanation of this data is that "when starting to charge from 20% battery, it can be charged to 80% within 30 minutes." One power bank can fully charge two mobile phones.

Considering the external trend, the battery capacity of mobile phones is still increasing year by year. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the battery capacity of many high-end flagship mobile phones exceeded 6000 mAh, and they are accelerating into the 7000 mAh era. This also means that a 10,000 mAh power bank may meet consumers' charging needs in the next five years, and it also provides a basic guarantee for agents to continue to benefit.

In addition to capacity, in the face of the pain point of "easy to borrow but difficult to return", the Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro has a "double insurance" - an "infrared communication sensor" is added in the middle of the power bank. Even if the metal contacts fail, there is still an infrared signal, and the comprehensive return success rate can reach 99.9%.

From a global perspective, when evaluating whether a product is excellent enough, the degree of solving users' needs is not the only indicator; the experience of agents cannot be ignored either.

In the past, as the industry matured, "involution" among brands was everywhere. Some brands cut corners on service quality in order to reduce costs and improve profitability; some brands chose to keep raising prices, shifting the costs to consumers, which also gave the industry the label of "price gouging".

At the beginning of the new product launch event, Zhumang Technology repeatedly asked questions such as "How can we enable our agent partners to win users' first choice in the fierce market competition? How can they manage more efficiently? How can they have more long - term revenue?" Their solution idea first returned to the root of "product power", and the connection between the innovations of the Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro and solving agents' pain points was mentioned many times.

For example, the waterproof performance has been upgraded to IPX4 level, an anti - prying structure is adopted, and anti - drop reinforcement is carried out, realizing a dual - system of "physical defense + intelligent monitoring" for drop resistance and waterproofing; in the face of the situation where "power outage = loss of revenue", most solutions in the industry are reverse power supply, but it requires specific batteries and cabinets, has many limitations, and the specific batteries take up slots and may also generate static electricity, which is neither economical nor safe. The Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro has a built - in 3000 mAh pure ternary lithium battery, eliminating the need to purchase "special power banks" additionally, not taking up slots, and being more economical and safe.

Beyond product ability, post - operation and maintenance is another source of contradiction between agents and brand owners. Through the combination of battery bulge warning, displacement tracking, and abnormal feedback, the Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro extends the lifespan of the power bank by 12 times. At the same time, it has launched the industry's first "return during power outage" and "power outage positioning" functions, ultimately achieving "4 - hour emergency rental + 7 - day offline positioning", thereby reducing the operation and maintenance labor cost by 30% - "When the cabinet moves more than 100 mm, rotates 30 degrees, or tilts 30 degrees, it will tell you through the app immediately," the press conference mentioned.

As a manufacturer and operator of public - scene infrastructure and a leading player in the industry, this new product, which is built on real innovation and aims to disrupt the status quo, is Zhumang Technology's answer at the beginning of the 3.0 era of the industry.

03

What Does a More Flourishing Power Bank Ecosystem Look Like?

When we talk about a "good ecosystem" in any industry, we are actually talking about the possibility of consumers, brand owners, and partners achieving "mutual benefits".

A set of data recently released by Zhumang Technology has injected new confidence into the industry - the average designed lifespan of a Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro is as long as 6 years. Market tests before its launch showed that after most consumers used this product, the rental duration increased by 10%, the average customer price increased by more than 5%, the order volume increased by 6%, and the total GSV transaction amount increased by 11%.

This also concretely shows that product optimization in terms of fast charging and large capacity will directly translate into high returns.

The increase in users' returns is one aspect. The ecological optimization driven by its product power is also reflected in more aspects - the reduction of failure rates, the optimization of operation and maintenance costs brought by power - outage endurance, and seizing prime locations such as transportation hubs, night markets, and performances with functions like "wild hunting" are all points that agents really care about.

In addition, the taller cabinet height of Jiedian and the upgrade of the white cabinet to "not turn yellow after three years of sun exposure" are all enhancing brand recognition. "We have upgraded everything inside and out, both the cabinet and the power bank, making them eye - catching, versatile, non - yellowing, drop - resistant, waterproof, able to stand out, hard to lose, and long - lasting," Zhumang Technology summarized at the press conference.

An undeniable logic is that in the extremely important location competition of shared power banks, whoever wins users' "first - choice mentality" can win the market. Whether for brands or agents, past price increases are not the "real solution". Only by truly addressing every pain point can one sit at the "card table" of the next era.

During the seven - year R & D process, employees in charge of the supply chain within Zhumang repeatedly said that "the cost is unbearable", but the users' needs clearly exist, so the product and supply chain teams "quarreled every day". Judging from the result, the spirit of "forging a sword for seven years" has also been embedded in the genes of the Colorful Power Bank 3.0 Pro.

A sentence often mentioned, which was summarized by James Collins and Jerry Porras in "Built to Last", is: To become a far - sighted and enduring company that can thrive for decades in the face of great changes, the first and most important thing is to clarify the core concept and establish firm values that are adhered to under any circumstances.

In a media interview in 2023, Liang Kai, the founder and CEO of Zhumang Technology, said that "the first sentence of Zhumang's core values is 'Customer - centric', and the second is 'D