The "money printer" on the middle-class balcony loses steam, with net profit dropping by 40% in half a year. Is the myth of the invisible rich coming to an end?
Key Points:
1. The transformation pain of the "No.1 clothes hanger stock" has erupted: In the first half of 2025, the revenue declined by 5%, and the net profit dropped by 39.97%. The gross profit margin decreased from 54.42% to 46.30%, and the "blood loss" of 8.12 percentage points directly pierced the profit margin.
2. The accounts receivable of Hao Tai Tai (Good Wife) with an aging of more than 3 years reached as high as 67.53 million yuan, accounting for 41.4%. The risk of bad debts is like a sword hanging over the head; the net operating cash flow was 50.2075 million yuan, a year - on - year decline of 16.02%, and the ability to collect payments continued to weaken.
3. The smart home track is full of competitors. Tech giants such as Xiaomi and Huawei are using their technological and capital advantages to launch all - out attacks, and traditional home furnishing giants are also eyeing covetously. When the "King of Clothes Hangers" tries to shed the "balcony label", it is facing double - whammy questions about quality and R & D in the new battlefield.
In 1999, at the turn of the century, China was surging with the wave of reform everywhere. Jack Ma founded Alibaba in Hangzhou, and Pony Ma launched OICQ in Shenzhen. However, 27 - year - old Shen Hanbiao made a decision that stunned his peers in Guangzhou: he gave up his booming decorative materials business and plunged into the unattended clothes hanger industry.
"How much success can one achieve by making clothes hangers?" The skeptical voices from that year still echo in time. However, Shen Hanbiao has turned this most inconspicuous small product in the home furnishing field into a big business over more than 20 years.
Relying on the breakthrough of high - end smart clothes hangers, Hao Tai Tai has been labeled as the "middle - class clothes hanger" and has become a symbol of quality life. In 2025, Shen Hanbiao and his wife Wang Miaoyu made it onto the "Hurun Global Rich List" with a net worth of 8 billion yuan. This is already the sixth time for the couple to enter the "Hurun Rich List" since 2018.
(Shen Hanbiao on the left, Wang Miaoyu on the right)
However, all legends will encounter turning points. At the end of August 2025, Hao Tai Tai's interim report showed that the net profit dropped by 39.97% year - on - year, and more than 40% of the accounts receivable had an aging of more than three years. This once - dominant king of the balcony is now struggling in the surging wave of the smart home.
01
A Couple of Guangdong Billionaires Runs Two Listed Companies
In 1972, Shen Hanbiao was born in Jieyang, Guangdong. Influenced by the traditional business - loving culture of the Chaoshan people, he learned to do business with his father and brother after graduation. In 1999, he went to Guangzhou alone, where he not only met his life partner Wang Miaoyu but also started a legendary entrepreneurial journey.
After marriage, Wang Miaoyu was once trapped in the "fortress besieged" of being a housewife, but she smelled a blue ocean in the dull daily life: the clothes hanger, a necessity for every family, was actually a corner forgotten by the technological wave. Just as there is Master Kong for instant noodles and Nongfu Spring for mineral water, there was no well - known brand for clothes hangers. This "little thing" hides the pain points of hundreds of millions of families.
Wang Miaoyu's insight ignited Shen Hanbiao's business spark. In 1999, the brand "Hao Tai Tai" was born in Guangzhou. This name is not only Shen Hanbiao's affectionate confession to his beloved wife Wang Miaoyu but also a tribute to all the "wives" who have made silent contributions in the world.
At that time, domestic clothes drying was still in the "primitive era" of ropes and bamboo poles. Hao Tai Tai's hand - cranked clothes hanger emerged out of nowhere, revolutionarily liberating housewives from sore necks and wet shoes and socks. With a gentle crank, the clothes could reach a comfortable height. This small product brought about a big change.
"We are not just making products; we are providing a better way of life." Shen Hanbiao often told his team like this. In 2000, taking advantage of the influence of the popular TV series "My Fair Princess", Hao Tai Tai invited actress Lin Xinru to be its brand ambassador. After the advertisement was launched, the brand quickly became well - known across the country, sales soared, and exclusive stores sprang up all over the country like mushrooms after rain.
In 2010, with the rise of the Internet of Things, Hao Tai Tai made forward - looking arrangements in smart drying and security technology and continued to climb relying on the real estate dividend. In 2015, Shen Hanbiao welcomed his first moment of glory: the Holike he founded was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming the "No.1 stock in the customized home furnishing industry". In December 2017, Hao Tai Tai (603848.SH) rang the bell for listing, and its stock price soared by 44% on the first day, with a market value exceeding billions. Shen Hanbiao, who was 45 years old at that time, was also called the "King of Clothes Hangers".
Controlling two listed companies alone, Shen Hanbiao reached the peak of his career. Hao Tai Tai has always precisely targeted the image of the "national good wife": by leveraging the elite image of Liu Tao as "Andy" in "Ode to Joy 2" and the popularity of Tong Yao as "Gu Jia", the perfect housewife in "Nothing But Thirty", it successively signed them as brand ambassadors, deeply binding the star IP with the brand and continuously strengthening its position in the minds of middle - class families.
Now, Hao Tai Tai has evolved into a smart drying butler, using black technologies such as voice control, wind control, disinfection, and drying to enable young people to achieve "drying freedom". The interim report in 2025 shows that the revenue of 677 million yuan during the industry adjustment period confirms the potential of this small category to achieve big dreams.
02
The "King of Clothes Hangers" Falls into the Smart Home Black Hole
Standing on a broader listed platform, the smart home transformation path of this "No.1 clothes hanger stock" is full of thorns.
Since 2016, Hao Tai Tai has expanded from a single clothes hanger to multi - category smart home products. By 2025, the revenue from smart home products accounted for about 84% (the revenue from smart home products was 569 million yuan, and the revenue from clothes hanger products was 72.7 million yuan), and the clothes hanger has instead become an auxiliary business.
However, the transformation pain broke out concentratedly in the interim report of 2025: the revenue declined by 5%, the net profit dropped by 39.97%, and the net profit after deducting non - recurring gains and losses decreased by 42.51%; the gross profit margin decreased from 54.42% to 46.30%, and the loss of 8.12 percentage points directly compressed the profit margin.
What's more serious is the capital chain crisis. The accounts receivable with an aging of more than 3 years reached as high as 67.53 million yuan, accounting for 41.4%. The risk of bad debts is like a sword hanging over the head; the net operating cash flow was 50.2075 million yuan, a year - on - year decline of 16.02%, and the ability to collect payments continued to weaken.
Hao Tai Tai's profit alarm did not sound suddenly. As early as the first three quarters of 2024, the company had already experienced a double - decline in revenue and net profit. However, the interim report this year shows that this downward trend not only failed to be curbed but also accelerated.
"The smart home industry has a wide variety of product categories, and there are many manufacturers of different products and types, among which small and micro - enterprises account for a relatively high proportion. The overall development level of the industry is uneven." Hao Tai Tai described the industry situation in its annual report, not expecting it to become a portrayal of its own situation.
03
17.85% Cut in R & D Expenses, the Shadow under the Brand Halo
As if it were not enough for misfortunes to come all at once, while the performance is sliding, Hao Tai Tai's brand halo is being shrouded in the shadow of quality issues.
In April 2024, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee released the results of a comparative test of smart clothes hanger products. One of Hao Tai Tai's electric clothes hangers did not meet the national standards in the "overload project". The national standard stipulates that when an electric clothes hanger bears 1.2 times the rated load, it should automatically stop working without damage to ensure safety. The involved Hao Tai Tai product did not trigger the protection mechanism during the overload test, that is, it did not stop running, posing a safety hazard.
In the same year, the Shanghai Market Supervision and Administration Bureau reported two batches of unqualified electric clothes hanger products in the random inspection, including the GW - 1103WS electric clothes hanger produced by Hao Tai Tai. The unqualified item was the protection against access to live parts. It is reported that not meeting the standard requirements will pose a safety risk of electric shock to users.
As the enterprise rushes forward on the smart home track, the cracks in quality control have already emerged. On the Black Cat Complaint Platform, there are more than 2,000 complaints about Hao Tai Tai, mostly related to the quality problems of clothes hangers and drying machines.
What's even more puzzling is the strategic dilemma: the R & D expenses decreased by 17.85% year - on - year to 20.12 million; although the sales expenses decreased slightly by 3.17%, they still reached 154 million yuan, far exceeding the R & D investment.
In the current fierce competition in the smart home industry, the investment structure of "emphasizing marketing over R & D" is like quenching thirst with poison.
The channel map is undergoing a subversive reconstruction: Hao Tai Tai's online revenue soared to 451 million yuan in half a year, accounting for as high as 66.66%, and the gross profit margin of 51.34% crushed the offline channels; the traditional distributor model is gradually being marginalized. As the all - domain integration becomes the new engine, e - commerce promotion and advertising bombardment are still intensifying.
The "gambling against the market" in 2021 was even more dramatic. Shen Hanbiao chose to enter the real estate market "against the market". In May 2022, a subsidiary of Hao Tai Tai Holdings won a plot in Guangzhou's Financial City for 1.295 billion yuan. The total investment in the International Center project is about 2.2 billion yuan, and it is expected to be completed in 2026. At this time, Hao Tai Tai can hardly hide the anxiety about its main business.
(The planned map of the new headquarters of Hao Tai Tai Group)
If you stand on the top floor of the completed Hao Tai Tai International Center, you can overlook the bright night view of Guangzhou's Zhujiang New Town. This hot land, the most dynamic area in China's economy, is the starting point of Shen Hanbiao's rags - to - riches story.
Now, at the age of 5