The overall situation of the air conditioning industry this year is not very good, but leading enterprises are still full of confidence. Zhu Jianghong, chairman of Gree Electric (000651.SZ), revealed in an exclusive interview with The First Financial Daily yesterday that Gree Electric's goal for this year is to "ensure ten and strive for twenty", meaning ensuring a 10% increase in sales revenue compared to last year, and striving for a 20% increase. "If the situation changes in the second half of the year, there might be even greater growth," Zhu Jianghong said. The real estate purchase restrictions have had some impact on the air conditioning industry, but mainly on commercial housing. Large-scale construction of affordable housing and low-rent housing is still ongoing in various places.
He admitted that the growth rate of the air conditioning industry has slowed down somewhat. However, frequency conversion air conditioners and central air conditioners are "opportunities." "Frequency conversion air conditioners are developing very quickly," Zhu Jianghong said. The proportion of frequency conversion air conditioners in China's home air conditioning market was about 10% two years ago, several percentages last year, and will significantly increase over the next one or two years. "In the coming few years, it will definitely be the era of frequency conversion air conditioners. In no more than two or three years, it will be hard to find fixed-frequency air conditioners in the market." This is similar to the Japanese market, where fixed-frequency air conditioners were dominant in 1991 and 1992, but by 1993 they were all replaced by frequency conversion air conditioners.
The popularization of frequency conversion air conditioners in China is later than in Japan, mainly due to technological constraints before. Zhu Jianghong said that now Chinese companies have mastered frequency conversion technology, and related components are produced domestically, greatly reducing costs. Comfortable and energy-saving frequency conversion air conditioners are only a couple of hundred yuan more expensive than fixed-frequency air conditioners, and consumers will be more willing to buy frequency conversion air conditioners, as they can save money on electricity bills.