Independent Industry Reference

Two chairs from the same Maochang series, packed into the same carton, aimed at the same buyers — and organised around two different ideas of what a gaming chair should look like and do.

Product ranges rarely offer buyers a clean either/or. Most of the time the decision sits inside the specification sheet: a few centimetres of seat width, a different gas lift, one more armrest direction. The Maochang MC196 series is unusual in one specific corner. The MC196-4 and the MC196-5 occupy the same band of the catalogue and speak to the same gaming, home and streaming markets, but they are built on two distinct design languages. One is organised around a decorative spider element and a set of large casters. The other is organised around a split-back shell, a knock-down metal starbase and PU-padded armrests.

Anji Maochang Furniture Co., Ltd. is a chair manufacturer established in 2016 and located at 198 Yangguang Road, Dipu Town, Anji County, Zhejiang Province, China. The facility covers 3,000 m² and employs approximately 25 staff, supported by a 3-engineer R&D team and an annual production capacity of 75,000 units. Export accounts for 98% of total sales, with major markets in the EU, USA, Thailand, Brazil and South Korea, and the main product lines are gaming chairs, office chairs and manicure chairs. Both models discussed here sit inside that gaming chair line.

This comparison is written for the point where a buyer has already decided on a supplier category and now has to choose between two closely priced SKUs. It examines design language, function, material, dimensions, container maths and application fit, and it states where the available product data stops rather than filling the gap with assumptions.

The Short Answer: Spider Styling vs. Split-Back Function

The MC196-4 is a game chair in the game chair with spider element category, intended for gaming, home and live streaming scenarios. Its distinctive features are a segmented backrest with pink embroidered lines, a spring-loaded seat cushion, a retractable footrest, an up/down adjustable headrest, 2D adjustable PU-padded armrests, a 3-position lockable tilt mechanism and 60mm large casters. It is built from PU, metal and plastic.

The MC196-5 is a game chair in the new design game chair category, intended for gaming, office and live streaming scenarios. It uses a split-back design with embroidery and printed lines in a black and green colour scheme, an adjustable headrest, height-adjustable armrests with PU padding, a footrest, a back cushion whose tilt angle is adjustable across three positions, and a K/D (knock-down) metal starbase. It is built from fabric, metal, plastic and PU.

In one sentence: the MC196-4 buys visual differentiation and a larger caster, while the MC196-5 buys a more restrained, office-compatible presentation with a three-position back cushion and a knock-down base. Neither is the better chair in the abstract. The right question is which one fits the room, the sales channel and the buyer's tolerance for assembly and styling.

MC196-4: the spider element and segmented backrest are the primary visual identifiers of this SKU, and they drive most of the buying decision.

What the Spider Element Actually Changes for a Buyer

Decorative elements are often dismissed as cosmetic, but in a retail and streaming context they carry real commercial weight. The MC196-4's spider element, combined with pink embroidered lines on a segmented backrest, produces a chair that reads clearly at a distance. That matters in three situations: a showroom or e-commerce listing where the chair must be identifiable in a thumbnail, a live streaming setup where the chair is part of the frame, and a product mix where the reseller needs at least one SKU that does not look like every other racing chair on the shelf.

The trade-off is equally clear. A design built around a spider element and pink accent embroidery is a directional bet. It performs best when the target buyer is explicitly shopping for a statement chair, and it performs less well when the same SKU has to sit inside a conservative contract or office package where visual neutrality is preferred. The MC196-4 is listed for gaming, home and live streaming — not for office — and that listing is consistent with how the chair is positioned.

Two functional details reinforce the statement role. The 60mm large casters are the largest rolling element listed anywhere in this comparison, and larger casters are generally chosen when smooth, quiet movement across mixed floor surfaces matters. The spring-loaded seat cushion is a construction choice aimed at preventing the seat from flattening over long sessions, which is a practical concern for a chair positioned in front of a screen for hours at a time.

What the Split-Back and K/D Metal Starbase Change

The MC196-5 takes a different route. Its identity comes from a split-back shell finished with embroidery and printed lines in black and green, a palette that is noticeably more restrained than pink accent stitching. That restraint is why the model is listed for office use alongside gaming and live streaming. A reseller supplying home offices, hybrid work setups or dual-use rooms can place this chair in a room without the furniture becoming the loudest object in it.

The functional architecture is built around adjustability rather than decoration. The back cushion tilt angle is adjustable across three positions, the headrest is adjustable, the armrests are height-adjustable with PU padding, and a footrest is included. The base is a K/D metal starbase — knock-down, meaning the base arrives as separate components and is assembled at destination rather than shipped as a pre-built unit.

That K/D decision has a purchasing consequence worth naming. A knock-down base is a packaging and assembly decision, and it shifts a small amount of work onto the receiving end: the base has to be assembled before the chair can be used. For distributors and installers this is routine. For channels that sell directly to end users who expect an unpack-and-sit experience, it is an additional step that should be planned for rather than discovered at delivery.

MC196-5: the split-back shell, black-green finish and height-adjustable PU-padded armrests move this SKU toward hybrid office and gaming use.

Dimensions and Container Maths

The two chairs are close in size but not identical. The MC196-4 measures W68 × D69 × H122–132 cm; the MC196-5 measures W70.5 × D69 × H124–132 cm. The depth is the same at 69 cm. The width differs by 2.5 cm in favour of the MC196-5, and the height range starts 2 cm higher on the MC196-5 while both top out at 132 cm.

Those differences are small enough that most buyers will not feel them in use, but they can matter at the margins. In a small room or a dormitory setup where the chair sits close to a desk return or a wall, the narrower MC196-4 gives back 2.5 cm. In a setup where a wider seating footprint is preferred, the MC196-5 leans the other way.

The more commercially significant number is the carton. Both models ship at 75 × 36 × 56 cm, 1 pc per carton, with a loading quantity of 447 pcs. Identical carton dimensions across two SKUs in the same series simplify several downstream operations: pallet patterns stay the same, warehouse slotting does not have to be reconfigured between models, and a mixed container can combine both chairs without recalculating the load plan model by model. For an importer running a two-SKU assortment, that consistency is worth more than it first appears.

The packing format is one piece per carton for both models, which keeps unit-level handling and damage claims straightforward and avoids the mixed-carton complications that appear when a supplier consolidates several units into a single box.

Materials: PU Surface vs. Fabric Mix

The material split is the clearest functional difference in the pair. The MC196-4 is specified as PU, metal and plastic. The MC196-5 is specified as fabric, metal, plastic and PU, with PU appearing in the padded armrests and the fabric forming the main upholstery.

PU remains the dominant surface in this category. Industry material tracking puts PU leather at a 57.3% share of gaming chair materials in 2024, which is consistent with what buyers see in most catalogues. A PU surface is generally easier to wipe down and holds a sharp colour and embroidery contrast well, which is exactly what a design like the MC196-4 depends on. Fabric upholstery generally reads softer and more domestic, which supports the MC196-5's office listing and its black-green palette.

Neither choice is a quality verdict. The relevant question is who cleans the chair and what the room looks like. High-traffic and shared environments tend to favour surfaces that can be wiped; domestic and hybrid office settings often prefer the visual register of fabric. Buyers should note that the material description alone does not establish fire performance, and any claim about upholstery compliance has to come from documentation issued for the specific order.

PU upholstery holds embroidery and colour contrast sharply — a material property that the MC196-4's design depends on.

Application Fit: Home, Streaming and Office

Both chairs are listed for gaming, home and live streaming. The MC196-5 carries one additional listing: office. That single word is the most useful filter in the comparison, because it reflects how the two products were conceived rather than how they perform.

For a home PC gaming setup, both are viable. The MC196-4's 60mm casters and spring-loaded cushion suit long sessions and frequent repositioning; the MC196-5's height-adjustable PU-padded armrests and three-position back cushion tilt suit users who change posture between play, work and rest.

For live streaming, the decision usually turns on set design. A streamer building a visually distinctive frame will find the MC196-4 easier to work with, because the spider element and segmented backrest produce a recognisable silhouette on camera. A streamer whose channel aesthetic is minimal, or who streams from a room that also serves as a workspace, will usually prefer the MC196-5.

For office and hybrid use, the MC196-5 is the only one of the two listed for that environment. Buyers assembling a mixed order for a home-office channel should treat that listing as a signal about intended use, not as a certification of suitability for a specific workplace standard.

Where These Two Sit in the Wider MC196 Line

Positioning the pair against the rest of the series makes the trade-off easier to see. The MC196-2-1 (W70 × D70 × H118–128 cm) pushes adjustability further with 5D adjustable armrests, a height-adjustable headrest, seat cushion depth adjustment and a backrest with three locking tilt angles, in a fabric build. The MC196-3-1 (W66.5 × D69 × H106–114 cm) is a more compact game type computer chair with 2D adjustable armrests, an adjustable headrest and lumbar pillow, and a three-position tilt-lock mechanism listed for home, office and internet cafe use.

At the heavier end, the MC1039-1 is a heavy duty big size gaming chair at W74 × D80 × H126–132 cm with 4D adjustable armrests, a foldable footrest, 180-degree reclining and a frog-type adjustable multifunctional mechanism, listed for gaming, home, live streaming and internet cafe use. The MC1040 is a gaming sofa at W80 × D72 × H119 cm with a 150 kg weight capacity, a 180-degree recline, height-adjustable armrests and lockable silent casters.

Against that background, the MC196-4 and MC196-5 are the two mid-size, design-led options in the family. They are not the chairs to choose when maximum adjustment range or maximum size is the priority. They are the chairs to choose when the assortment needs a strong visual identity (MC196-4) or a design that can cross into office use (MC196-5).

Market Context Buyers Should Weigh

The segment these chairs compete in is large and still expanding. The global gaming chair market was estimated at USD 1.37 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach approximately USD 2.05 billion by 2030, according to the Gaming Chair Market Report. North America accounted for a 36.4% revenue share in 2024, making it the largest regional market, while PC gaming chairs held a 52.6% product segment share globally in the same year.

Two structural trends matter for a design-led comparison like this one. First, the hybrid work-and-game chair segment held a 29.8% market share in 2024, which explains why a model like the MC196-5 is listed for office use alongside gaming — the buyer for that chair increasingly wants one product for two rooms. Second, production concentration remains decisive: the Anji furniture cluster in Zhejiang is the world's leading production base for gaming chairs and contributes to China's 30.8% share of global furniture exports.

On the compliance side, buyers routinely ask for reference standards rather than model-level claims. ANSI/BIFMA X5.1 is the primary safety and durability standard for general-purpose office and gaming chairs in North America; EN 1335 is the European standard for office work chairs covering dimensions, safety and testing; and BS 5852 is the UK fire safety standard for upholstered furniture. These standards define what testing looks like. They do not, on their own, confirm that a specific model has been tested, and buyers should request the documentation that applies to their order and destination market.

Limits and Boundaries

A comparison that only lists advantages is not useful for a purchasing decision, so the boundaries deserve equal space.

• The MC196-4 is a styling commitment. The spider element and pink embroidered lines narrow the addressable buyer. Resellers whose channel skews corporate, institutional or visually conservative will find the MC196-5 easier to place, even if the MC196-4 photographs better.
• The MC196-5 introduces an assembly step. Its K/D metal starbase arrives in components and must be assembled. That is routine for distributors and installers but should be accounted for in channels selling directly to end users.
• Neither model carries a published weight rating in the available product data. Buyers who need a stated capacity should source that figure from the supplier against the specific order rather than inferring it from a sibling model in the same series.
• Material descriptions are not compliance evidence. The listed materials describe what the chair is made from. They do not establish fire performance, durability testing or standard conformity for a given production batch.
• The size difference is real but marginal. At 2.5 cm of width and 2 cm of starting height, the MC196-4 and MC196-5 should not be selected on dimensions alone; design language, base construction and armrest function are the deciding variables.

Future Outlook

The direction of the category favours both models, but for different reasons. As the hybrid work-and-game segment holds close to a third of the market, chairs that can cross from a gaming desk to a home office without looking out of place gain a structural advantage — which is the ground the MC196-5 occupies. At the same time, the streaming economy rewards products that are recognisable on camera, and a distinct silhouette remains one of the few ways a mid-priced SKU can avoid being visually interchangeable with dozens of competitors. That is the ground the MC196-4 occupies.

For buyers, the practical implication is that assortment planning is becoming a design decision as much as a specification decision. A range built entirely from neutral, fabric, three-position chairs is safe but undifferentiated. A range built entirely from statement pieces is memorable but hard to place in office channels. Carrying both design languages inside one series, at one carton size and one loading quantity, is the pragmatic middle — and it is the clearest argument for treating the MC196-4 and MC196-5 as complementary rather than competing.

FAQ

What is the difference between the MC196-4 and the MC196-5?

The MC196-4 is a game chair in the game chair with spider element category, made from PU, metal and plastic, with a segmented backrest, pink embroidered lines, 2D adjustable PU-padded armrests, a spring-loaded seat cushion, a retractable footrest, a 3-position lockable tilt mechanism and 60mm large casters. The MC196-5 is a new design game chair made from fabric, metal, plastic and PU, with a split-back design, embroidery and printed lines in black and green, height-adjustable PU-padded armrests, a three-position adjustable back cushion tilt, an adjustable headrest, a footrest and a K/D metal starbase.

What materials are used in the MC196-4 and MC196-5?

The MC196-4 is specified with PU, metal and plastic. The MC196-5 is specified with fabric, metal, plastic and PU, where PU appears in the padded armrests and fabric forms the main upholstery. Neither material list on its own establishes fire performance or conformity with a specific standard.

How do the armrests differ between the two models?

The MC196-4 has 2D adjustable armrests with PU padding, allowing height and angle adjustment. The MC196-5 has height-adjustable armrests with PU padding. The MC196-4 therefore offers an additional adjustment direction, while the MC196-5 focuses on height positioning.

Do the MC196-4 and MC196-5 ship in the same carton?

Both models ship at a carton size of 75 × 36 × 56 cm, one piece per carton, with a loading quantity of 447 pcs. The identical carton format allows the two SKUs to be combined in a mixed container without recalculating the load plan model by model.

Which model is listed for office use?

The MC196-5 is listed for gaming, office and live streaming scenarios. The MC196-4 is listed for gaming, home and live streaming. These listings describe intended application rather than certification for a specific workplace standard.

Where are the MC196-4 and MC196-5 produced?

Both models are produced by Anji Maochang Furniture Co., Ltd., established in 2016 at 198 Yangguang Road, Dipu Town, Anji County, Zhejiang Province, China. The facility covers 3,000 m², employs approximately 25 staff, has a 3-engineer R&D team and an annual production capacity of 75,000 units. Export accounts for 98% of total sales, with major markets including the EU, USA, Thailand, Brazil and South Korea.

Buyers planning a mixed order can review the full Maochang range in the 2026 product catalogue.

Comparison based on published product specifications for the MC196-4 and MC196-5 and on third-party market data for the gaming chair category. Model-level certification and load ratings should be confirmed against the specific order.