Philips Air Conditioning Chairman Huang Hui, photo provided by the interviewee.
Beijing News Shell Finance News (Reporter Chen Weicheng) On March 4, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Philips air-conditioning production and research base was held in Chuzhou, Anhui. The base has a total investment of 10 billion yuan and will be implemented in three phases. Huang Hui, chairman of Philips Air Conditioning, said that the laying of the foundation for the production and research base has also pressed the accelerator button for the development of Philips air conditioning.
Philips brand was founded in 1891. It is a global health technology company. Its product layout covers many fields such as medical health, personal care, water health, maternal and infant health, sleep health, etc. At present, Philips air conditioners include household hanging air conditioners, cabinet air conditioners and central air conditioners.
George Williams, Asia head of global market development at Philips, said that Philips' launch of a new healthy air conditioner is not only a further extension of Philips' health technology territory in the field of air health, but also an important strategic decision for Philips to enter the field of large white appliances. It is very important to the Philips brand. It has landmark significance.
It is understood that the Philips air-conditioning production and research base is located in Chuzhou, Anhui Province. It is mainly used for the research and development and production of Philips household air conditioners, large-scale commercial air conditioners, compressors, motors and other ancillary equipment. The first phase of the household air conditioning project has a total investment of 3.5 billion yuan, covering 659 acres of land and a total construction area of 450,000 square meters. After it is put into operation, it is expected to have an annual production capacity of 5 million sets of air conditioners.
This production and research base carries two major functions: technology research and development and production and manufacturing. The R&D center covers an area of 15,000 square meters.
Huang Hui, Chairman of Philips Air Conditioning, said, "Here today, we witnessed the laying of the foundation of Philips Air Conditioning Production and Research Base, and together we pressed the accelerator button for Philips Air Conditioning. In the future, Philips Air Conditioning will continue to innovate core technologies and promote healthy air conditioning. development. "
It is worth noting that Huang Hui, chairman of Philips Air Conditioning, and Hu Wenfeng, president of Philips Air Conditioning, are former Gree Electric executives. In the second half of 2021, news that a group of former Gree Electric employees were operating Philips air conditioners triggered discussions in the industry. Some people believe that this move may be a "big move" by Dong Mingzhu to help Philips air conditioners seize the market. It is not surprising that
has this idea. In March 2021, Philips announced that it would sell its home appliance business to Hillhouse Capital for a transaction amount of approximately 3.7 billion euros. Hillhouse Capital is also the major shareholder of Gree Electric.
However, an insider told the Beijing News Shell Finance reporter at the time that the home appliance business that Philips sold to Hillhouse Capital did not include the air conditioner category, but only the small home appliance business.
's reshaping of Philips air conditioners at this time is also inseparable from the new competitive trends in the air conditioning industry. After experiencing rising raw material prices, dual controls on energy efficiency, repeated epidemics, and heavy rainfall in peak seasons, China's air-conditioning market is in a state of recovery from a low base in 2021 that is less than expected and with both volume and volume falling. According to the total data pushed by Aowei Cloud, Annual retail sales were 152.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.2%, and retail sales were 46.89 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 8.7%.
Aowei Cloud Network believes that the industry also has inherent vitality, and the second-tier online air-conditioning market has a significant growth trend, bringing more market opportunities. In addition, healthy air conditioners have officially entered everyone's field of vision. As an emerging healthy air conditioner, fresh air air conditioners have been continuously increased by companies, and the growth rate in subdivisions is astonishing.
Beijing News Shell Finance reporter noticed that since 2022, many air conditioning companies such as Meibo , Xinke , Midea, Haier , Gree , Oaks , etc. have begun to issue price increase notices, Changhong Meiling Brands such as , TCL have also released new products. The competition for air conditioning in the new year has begun.
Wang Lei, secretary-general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association , said that the overall scale of China's air-conditioning market is declining, the market's willingness to consume has decreased, and raw material prices continue to rise. This is a challenge facing China's air-conditioning industry. The air-conditioning industry needs to get rid of price wars, realize healthy, intelligent, comfortable, energy-saving and environmentally friendly air-conditioning products, and further innovate and upgrade. In this process, historical opportunities and practical challenges coexist. Who can better solve consumption pain points and grasp innovation trends will determine the competitive landscape of China's air-conditioning industry in the new stage.
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