For a long time, the three major brands of Gree, Midea and Haier accounted for half of China’s air conditioning industry, and the brand pattern was relatively stable. However, in the past year or two, as the industry has entered the stock era and the growth range is limited, the growth rate of the air-conditioning industry has gradually slowed down, which has had a greater impact on the entire industry structure.

Over the past year, we have seen the different development postures of the three giants Midea, Gree and Haier. Midea is focusing on the first place and striving to catch up, Gree is in an unstable position and is actively transforming, and Haier is boldly innovating and marketing. Not enough. While competing with each other, they also show their respective development characteristics. Perhaps this is the true portrayal of the air-conditioning industry.

Midea catches up: keep an eye on “number one” and strive to pursue volume

In the past two years, if we want to say who has the loudest voice in the air-conditioning industry, Midea must be doing its part, and we have seen a A company's efforts to gain market share.

Therefore, we see that starting from the first half of 2020, Midea surpassed Gree in terms of revenue for the first time, and the air-conditioning market share also surpassed Gree for the first time online.

According to Ovi Compass data, Midea’s air conditioner online market share reached 34.26% in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 3.75 percentage points, ranking first in the market; in terms of offline channels, Midea’s air conditioner market share reached 34.71% , a year-on-year increase of 5.86 percentage points, ranking second in the market, almost the same as Gree. Relying on the advantages of online channels, Midea air conditioners won the championship in total online and offline sales for the first time in 2020.

By 2021, Midea air conditioners have completely surpassed Gree. Whether offline or online, the market share has surpassed Gree. This is undoubtedly a turning point in the air conditioner category. Midea air conditioners are chasing the "third The goal of "One" has finally achieved substantial results.

Under the trend of declining market growth, it is undoubtedly more advantageous to increase volume at low prices. The prices of Gree and Haier are generally higher than Midea, so they will naturally be at a disadvantage in a short period of time. Therefore, although Midea currently ranks first, in the future, as long as Gree and Herken give up profits and adopt the same low-price strategy as Midea, there is still a good chance of surpassing Midea, but this will inevitably lead to the largest price war in the air-conditioning industry. .

However, judging from the strategic development direction of the entire country, which is shifting from a high-speed growth stage to a high-quality development stage, it seems that there is still a question mark as to whether Midea's air-conditioning approach is appropriate.

Gree's transformation: unstable status, active adjustment

It is indeed very good to make a product to the extreme and gain recognition from the market and users. In the Chinese home appliance market, Gree is such an outstanding company.

However, in the past two years, in the process of competing with Midea for the "number one air conditioner", Gree air conditioners have struggled to develop, and their share has been gradually eroded by Midea and Haier.

For Gree, the market position is unstable not because Gree’s air conditioning technology and quality are not good enough, but because the distance between Gree and consumers’ needs is widening, and consumers’ balance of trade-offs has changed. The good cooling and heating effects of air conditioners used to be Gree's strength. However, after it has become a common flat-panel in the industry, the image of "good air conditioners" established by Gree has been difficult to continue to enjoy dividends due to consumption upgrades. For example, while Gree was still selling "good air conditioners", Midea had already launched a package plan to be sold in conjunction with other Midea home appliances; Haier exclusively launched a whole-house air customization scenario, jumping out of the "selling air conditioners" level.

Of course, as the big brother in the air-conditioning industry, Gree is constantly making positive adjustments, especially by transforming into an "Internet celebrity", hoping to leverage the power of the Internet to achieve a comeback. Therefore, we saw that Gree not only invited Dong Mingzhu to carry out live broadcasts, but also Internet celebrity secretary Meng Yutong. The sales volume is indeed considerable. Even during the Double Eleven period in 2021, the sales of air conditioners across the entire network reached 3 billion+ , defeated Haier and Midea, and won the first place in air-conditioning retail sales across the entire network.

From an essential point of view, Gree air conditioners need to adjust at a greater pace. For example, the introduction of the "ten-year free repair guarantee for the whole machine" policy can be said to be a big move that Gree has been holding back. Users cannot buy it. Buy it, it’s worth waiting and seeing. After all, with Midea continuing to expand its lead and Haier starting a catch-up mode to reverse the situation, Gree obviously needs such deeper efforts if it wants to maintain its current results.

Haier’s obsession: bold innovation, insufficient marketing

People found that while Midea and Gree were “fiercely fighting”, Haier, also one of the three giants of air conditioners, was running faster and faster , which can be seen from the just-released 2021 data.

From a vertical perspective, Haier air conditioner market share has led the increase for five consecutive years from 2016 to 2021, rising from 10.5% to 17.9%; from a horizontal perspective, Haier air conditioner is the only one among the three giants to achieve positive growth. Retail sales will increase by 16.4% in 2021, achieving the highest growth rate in the industry.

Industry insiders said that Gree and Midea have been fighting fiercely this year, but they did not expect that Haier is also quietly working hard.

In fact, this is Haier's consistent style. Some people have said before that Haier air conditioners do not know how to market themselves. "Emphasis on R&D and light marketing" has always been the impression it left on the industry, and it is not good at expressing it to the outside world. I always do something silently. The most obvious thing is the advertising data. According to third-party data, Gree and Midea's media investment far exceeds that of Haier air conditioners, whether in TV, Internet or outdoor media.

But when it comes to innovative research and development, Haier air conditioners are always at the forefront. For example, when the epidemic first broke out in 2020, the term "56 degrees C" suddenly became popular, and this originated from the industry's first 56 degrees C sterilizing air conditioner released by Haier. The evaporator temperature can reach above 56 degrees Celsius, and it can remove dust and sterilize The rate is as high as 99%, providing users with an upgraded experience of healthy air scenes during the epidemic. It was Haier's high-profile innovation that triggered the industry's follow-up. Midea air conditioners launched the corporate standard of "56 + 30 minutes", Hisense launched 57 and other similar functional products, and Gree also launched an air purifier to kill the new coronavirus at that time.

For the air-conditioning industry, when some companies are chasing volume and others are making channel changes, companies like Haier are indeed needed to promote high-quality development of the industry through technological innovation.

At present, the three giants of air conditioners are firmly on their own development paths. Midea continues to pursue market sales, Gree seeks business growth through channel changes, and Haier promotes products to benefit more users through innovation. Against the backdrop of continued industry expansion in 2021, competition in the air conditioning market will remain fierce in 2022. Entering February, the three major brands are already gearing up and starting to prepare for the biggest marketing activities of the year. Gree’s Red April, Midea’s Fire March, Haier’s Healthy Air Conditioner... Who can make a faster move in the fierce stock market? Reaction, who may become the new "King of Air Conditioning" in 2022.