Transferred from: shanghai securities news
Xinhua Finance Shanghai, November 4 (Reporter Liu Yipeng) The central air-conditioning equipment of Gree LMV series variable frequency air-cooled screw machine is resistant to the invasion of strong winds and waves and the high temperature and high humidity climate.
900 meters underground, China Pingmei Shenma Group No.11 Mine Xigong District, Gree local cooling equipment sent cool breeze to the mine with a depth of 1,000 meters, which improved the working environment of coal miners.
Whether it’s a super project, a front-line industry, or thousands of households,It is always one of the choices that are difficult to circumvent.
The revenue scale has increased from 10 million yuan to 200 billion yuan, and the profit has increased from "zero" to a record high of 29 billion yuan last year. As a global industrial manufacturing group covering household consumer goods and industrial equipment, Gree Electric, which is committed to mastering core technologies, has shown a new image made in China?
Start again after 30 years of change
In the first month of the cold year in 2025 (cold year: air conditioning industry jargon, generally refers to a freezing year from August of the previous year to July of that year), Dong Mingzhu, Chairman and President of Gree Electric, traveled to Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Nanjing and Hefei to attend regional dealer meetings.
Even though Gree Electric delivered its best annual performance in history in 2023, Dong Mingzhu still didn’t slow down. In her view, this is a run of "competing with yourself".
Channel reform has undoubtedly become a hot word on her lips. "Our previous channel method may be successful, but with the development of the market, the issue of win-win has been placed in front of us. If Gree wants to achieve greater benefits by deepening channel reform, it must radiate to the real terminal dealers. This is an important reason for Gree to deepen channel reform. " Dong Mingzhu said.
In Zhengzhou, Dong Mingzhu announced that Gree channel reform has been basically put in place in all provinces in China, and Gree dealers can place orders directly on the online system, changing the previous mode of obtaining goods from regional sales companies and reducing circulation costs.
In fact, the innovation of sales model has been accompanied by the growth of Gree Electric.
In 1994, Dong Mingzhu, who was born as a "champion salesman", was promoted to the position of director of Gree Electric’s business department. At that time, he resolutely put forward and implemented the "payment first, goods later" model, pointing to problems such as inventory backlog and bank debt collection. In the second year, Gree Electric’s operating income increased by 600%.
In 1997, Gree’s first sales company was established, creating a new marketing model, which better solved the market and price confusion and enabled air-conditioning sales to develop rapidly and orderly.
In 2004, Gree Electric broke with Gome, which not only did not affect the revenue, but also took the opportunity to build a team of stores with strong fighting capacity.
Channel reform has once again shown results. Since 2019, Gree has continued to promote channel reform through strategies such as reducing the channel level and landing the new retail model of online and offline integration. Benefiting from the flatter channel model and the production mode of fixed production by sales, the company’s production and sales volume and channel turnover efficiency have been improved, and the profit loss of channel links has been reduced, which has provided a basis for the improvement of overall gross profit margin. At the same time, a new industrial landscape is also taking shape. According to the data of Gree Electric’s semi-annual report in 2024, the business revenues of air conditioners, household appliances and industrial products increased by 11.38%, 10.68% and 13.01% respectively in the first half of the year.
"From’ good air conditioning’ to’ good electrical appliances’, Gree has achieved this strategic change." On May 22nd, at the activity of Gree Ice Washing Household Appliances Strategy and New Tasting, Dong Mingzhu said.
In the first half of this year, Gree Electric released a new blueprint for ice-washed household appliances from four dimensions: product, channel, brand and operation. The company will implement a diversified sales strategy and continue to set up refrigerator, washing machine and household appliances sales companies in various provinces in China, injecting new vitality into the development of ice-washed household appliances market.
The industrial products business represented by high-end equipment has gradually become a new growth pole of Gree. In 2013, Gree announced its entry into the field of high-end equipment; In 2015, Zhuhai Gree Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. was formally established; In 2022, Gree Intelligent Equipment Sanxi Smart Industrial Park with a total investment of 1.08 billion yuan was put into operation.
Today, Gree intelligent equipment products cover the industry., CNC machine tools, intelligent logistics warehousing, industrial automation and other more than 10 fields, providing more than 100 kinds of products and serving thousands of industry customers.
Behind 46 "international leading" technologies
In the exhibition hall on the first floor of Gree Electric Zhuhai Headquarters, a big sign is hung on the wall: "An enterprise without innovation is an enterprise without soul. An enterprise without core technology is an enterprise without a backbone. "
On many occasions, Dong Mingzhu summed up the development of Gree for more than 30 years. In her perspective, the secret of winning Gree through the cycle and through difficult times has always been the corporate background of innovation and change.
How to count the innovations belonging to Gree? Bin Chen of Gree Electric Electrical Machinery System Research Institute gave his own "answer".
In 2014, the magnetic levitation centrifugal water chiller independently developed by Gree passed the expert group appraisal and was awarded as "international leader", which not only filled the gap of magnetic levitation technology in domestic industry, but also introduced the world’s largest single-machine cooling unit with a single-machine cooling capacity of 1,000 tons.
In 2019, Gree rolled off the production line of a single 1300-ton magnetic levitation centrifuge, setting a new world record. "Looking at the world, only one foreign company can supply small-capacity products below 450 cold tons, and Gree has realized the industrialization of small, medium and large-capacity magnetic levitation compressors with 50 to 1,300 cold tons." Bin Chen said.
On July 26th this year, the appraisal meeting of scientific and technological achievements of the project "Key Technology and Application of Magnetic Levitation Motor System" was held in Gree Electric, Zhuhai. At the meeting, an expert group led by an academician organized by China Electrotechnical Society identified the technology as "international leading". This technology has become the 46th "international leading" technology in Gree Electric.
Behind the breakthrough products is Gree’s strong R&D strength.
In Gree Electric Experimental R&D Building, from noise to electromagnetic compatibility, from low-temperature heating equipment to refrigeration units, from refrigeration equipment for computer rooms to HVAC equipment for large space transportation hubs, dozens of professional laboratories are working around the clock. The investment in a single laboratory is tens of millions of yuan.
At present, Gree has established 16 research institutes, including 152 research institutes, 1,411 laboratories and 1 academician workstation (motor and control), with one national key laboratory, one national engineering technology research center, one national industrial design center, one national recognized enterprise technology center and one robot engineering technology research and development center. At the same time, it has become a refrigeration equipment research and evaluation base and a national standard verification point of the national notification and consultation center.
By July 2024, Gree Electric had applied for more than 120,000 patents, including more than 60,000 invention patents; He has won 2 National Science and Technology Progress Awards, 2 National Technological Invention Awards, 3 China Patent Gold Awards, 3 China Design Gold Awards, 15 Geneva Invention Awards and 10 Nuremberg Invention Awards.
Deep technical accumulation and vigorous innovation kinetic energy have also boosted performance. In the first half of 2024, Gree Electric achieved a total operating income of 100.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.50%; The net profit of returning to the mother was 14.136 billion yuan, an increase of 11.54% year-on-year, and the best "half-year report card" in history was handed over.
"Let the world fall in love with China"
From the initial "Good Air Conditioning Made in Gree" to the present "Let the world fall in love with China", the evolution of Gree’s slogan also reflects the enterprise’s continuous struggle for outward development.
In the mid-1990s, Gree began to enter the Brazilian market, and set up a factory in 2021. It was one of the first manufacturing enterprises to enter Brazil, and it also became the endorsement of "Made in China".
In 2016, Gree won the bid for several venues of Rio Olympic Games and supporting projects such as Olympic Village and Media Village; In 2018, Gree joined hands with State Grid to provide a full set of HVAC services for all converter stations of the second phase UHVDC transmission project in Brazil; In 2021, Gree won the bid for the 3000RT centrifuge project in the first phase of Dawn Shopping Mall in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Today, Gree’s sales outlets have covered 27 states and the Federal District of Brazil, with more than 200 dealers and 1,600 after-sales service outlets.
Gree’s development in Brazil is the epitome of Gree’s insistence on obtaining the global market with high quality for many years, and it is also an example of "Made in China" going to the world and gradually being recognized by the world.
At the just-concluded offline exhibition of the first phase of the 136th Canton Fair, Airy air conditioners suitable for the Middle East attracted the attention of many buyers. This air conditioner is equipped with a G-Boost single-stage enthalpy-increasing compressor. Even if the outdoor temperature rises to 68℃, the high-temperature refrigeration capacity can still be maintained.
"This air conditioner is perfect for Bangladesh, which is located in the tropical monsoon climate." Afser, a buyer from Bangladesh, said. He is an old friend of Gree. As early as 1998, he became Gree Electric’s distributor in Bangladesh, and kept close contact with Gree. "I witnessed the Gree brand becoming a high-end brand in Bangladesh’s home appliance market step by step." Afser said.
In the eyes of Deng Xiaobo, Secretary of the Board of Directors of Gree Electric, in 2011, with the appearance of China’s national image propaganda film in Times Square in new york, Gree launched the product pursuit of "Let the world fall in love with China" to the world.
The semi-annual report of 2024 shows that the operating income of Gree Electric’s overseas business increased by 15.64% year-on-year, and Gree products have been sold to more than 190 countries and regions, achieving sustained and steady growth in the Middle East, Europe, Southeast Asia and other markets.
"Gree’s goal has never been just the development of overseas markets." Dong Mingzhu said: "It is more important to go out with China manufacturing, high-quality products and high-end technology, and finally realize the national brand going out, so that the technology and products made in China can serve the whole world."
Editor: Luo Hao