en.Wedoany.com Reported - Extreme heatwaves are sweeping across Europe, with only about 20% of households equipped with cooling devices such as air conditioners. Sales of Chinese-made mobile air conditioners and installation-free split air conditioners have surged, with some markets even experiencing a shortage of supply. Chinese companies have seized this incremental growth opportunity by deepening localized innovation and launching market-appropriate installation-free air conditioning products.
Xiong Xueqin, Director of Midea's European Air Conditioning Division, stated that the PortaSplit installation-free split air conditioner has become a hit product, with shipments exceeding 200,000 units this year, doubling sales compared to last year. Affected by the prolonged summer heat cycle, Midea's air conditioning sales in the European market grew by over 70% in the first half of this year. With recent concentrated demand surges, the company's channel cooperation model has shifted from "Midea actively expanding" to "channels actively requesting stock." On the production side, factories have been working overtime to ramp up production to quickly meet demand.
A representative from Sichuan Changhong noted that in the first five months, Changhong's air conditioning business in Europe reached a record sales scale. Currently, the penetration rate of residential air conditioning in the EU is only about 20%, with over 10 million units imported annually from China, and the existing market stock exceeds 100 million units. Against the backdrop of extreme heatwaves, Changhong's cumulative shipments and sales scale in Europe from January to May both set historical records. Changhong is responding to demand by reallocating products from surrounding markets.
Yang Xiangxi, Brand Director of Hisense's Air Division, revealed that in the first six months, Hisense's overall air conditioning sales in Western Europe grew by over 20% year-on-year. The French market saw particularly strong growth, with a year-on-year increase exceeding 100%; the Italian market grew by 30% year-on-year in June, and the Spanish market also performed well.
Installing air conditioners in Europe is difficult and costly. In Western European countries, installation fees for traditional split air conditioners can range from 1,000 to 2,000 euros, and there is a shortage of installers during peak seasons, with appointments requiring a wait of two weeks to a month. Additionally, European buildings are generally old, and many listed historical buildings face cumbersome and challenging procedures for applying to install air conditioners. These issues, once considered "insoluble structural barriers," have been directly bypassed by Chinese companies through installation-free air conditioning products, opening up an incremental market of tens of millions of units.
Midea's PortaSplit installation-free split air conditioner is specifically designed for the European market, which has low air conditioning penetration, high installation costs, and regulatory restrictions, primarily covering countries such as Germany and France. Hisense's best-selling U6 split air conditioner series in Western Europe features a unique easy-installation design tailored for Europe's pre-buried pipe scenarios, improving installation efficiency by 35% compared to conventional products. Haier, addressing the pain points of difficult drilling and high installation costs in old European buildings, has developed a high-end wall-mounted series that is "easy to install, easy to disassemble, and easy to maintain," saving installers up to 50% of installation time.
Chinese overseas companies are accelerating their transition from "manufacturing going global" to "innovation going global." Midea's hot-selling products were first identified by local European teams, then jointly developed with Chinese domestic R&D teams and Italian industrial design teams, with the overall R&D cycle lasting three years. Midea stated that this is not about exporting Chinese production capacity globally, but about embedding R&D capabilities worldwide. The PortaSplit, a new category fully defined by a Chinese company, has no direct competitors in Europe, with a price of around 1,000 euros and significantly higher gross margins than traditional split units, giving the company independent pricing power. Xiong Xueqin believes that only by respecting local cultures and effectively addressing the real needs of local consumers can global market recognition be achieved.
