Economic Observer reporter Zhang Rui

As August draws to a close, the semi annual reports of the "three giants" in the home appliance industry have finally been released: Midea Group (000333. SZ), Gree Electric Appliances (000651. SZ), and Haier Smart Home (600690. SH) have delivered their respective results against the backdrop of overall industry pressure - Midea's "all-out attack" breakthrough, Haier's steady recovery, and Gree's domestic and international markets under pressure.

On the evening of August 28th, Midea Group released its 2026 semi annual report with the theme of "We always have a road". The report shows that the company achieved a revenue of approximately 260.042 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.55%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was approximately 26.446 billion yuan, an increase of 1.66% year-on-year.

As a result, Midea Group became the only company among the top three home appliance companies mentioned above to achieve "dual growth" in revenue and net profit.

Previously, Gree Electric released its 2026 semi annual report, which showed that the company achieved a revenue of 89.398 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 8.15%; Realize a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of 13.276 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 7.87%; According to the 2026 semi annual report released by Haier Smart Home, the company achieved a revenue of 152.15 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.8%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 10.316 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.27%.

Different manifestations of diversification and intelligence

In the first half of 2026, the home appliance industry will face overall pressure.

According to data from third-party research firm AVC, the domestic home appliance retail market reached 425 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year decline of 9.9%. Among them, air conditioning and kitchen and bathroom have the largest volume and the largest decline, with retail scale of 122.1 billion yuan and 69.6 billion yuan respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 15.9% and 10.7%, respectively.

In the past three years, the "national subsidy" policy has been an important factor affecting the domestic sales market. According to the analysis of OvCloud Network, the national subsidy in 2024 will be the catalyst, the national subsidy in 2025 will become dependent, and the national subsidy in 2026 will show "immunity".

Under the overall pressure of the industry, Midea, Gree, and Haier have all proposed development strategies of product diversification and intelligence. However, based on the semi annual reports of the three companies, Midea and Haier have shown a more balanced performance in diversification, high-end, and intelligence, while Gree still relies heavily on air conditioning products.

Among them, data from Midea Group shows that in the first half of this year, the revenue of the smart home sector was about 174.34 billion yuan, accounting for about 67% of the same period's operating revenue; The commercial and industrial solutions business segments in the fields of robotics and healthcare account for approximately 25% of the operating revenue. Among them, revenue from building technology, robotics, and automation increased by over 10% year-on-year.

Midea Group stated that in the first half of 2026, on the basis of consolidating its leading advantage in the white goods industry, commercial and industrial solutions have become one of the main engines for the company's sustained business growth. At the same time, in the core home appliance business sector, in addition to the Midea brand, the "COLMO+Toshiba" dual brand strategic deployment is clear. Midea Group is comprehensively promoting the application of AI in the entire value chain of its business and transforming into an 'AI+Industrial Technology Group'. ”Midea Group stated in its performance report.

Compared with Midea Group, Haier Smart Home's business segments are mainly divided into smart home appliances, smart HVAC solutions, smart home ecology, and others, but the overall focus is on the home appliance ecology.

Haier Smart Home stated in its 2026 semi annual report that the company's revenue decline in the first half of this year was mainly due to the continuous adjustment of the real estate industry and the fading of the dividend of the trade in policy, which is in line with the overall downward trend of the home appliance industry. However, the company's market share has been steadily increasing. Among them, the company's household air conditioning industry achieved counter trend growth.

In terms of high-end strategy, Haier Smart Home stated that the company covers high-end, mainstream, and segmented market audiences in the Chinese market through three brands: Casarte, Haier, and Leader; Covering high, medium, and low-end segments in the US market through six major brands such as Monogram.

In contrast, Gree Electric's deployment performance in diversification is not yet obvious. According to Gree Electric's semi annual report data, in the first half of 2026, the company's consumer electronics business revenue accounted for about 82.86%, further increasing the concentration compared to 2025 (78.5%).

However, Gree Electric stated in its semi annual report that the company will continue to focus on its core business strategically, shrink non core businesses, and optimize its business structure. At the same time, in the first half of 2026, under the promotion of the channel reform of "Dong Mingzhu Health Home", the company has steadily landed and laid out key regional projects such as benchmark stores in Xi'an, Inner Mongolia, and Shenzhen Greater Bay Area. The number of stores nationwide has exceeded 1500, and the sales volume of offline stores has significantly increased year-on-year.

During recent visits to several home appliance stores in Guangzhou and Foshan, reporters also felt that Midea and Haier have shown more outstanding performance in product intelligence and multi brand strategy. Although Gree Electric is promoting the diversification of "Dong Mingzhu Health Home", air conditioning products are still the main force.

Several frontline home appliance sales staff told reporters that although Gree still enjoys a good reputation in the mid to high end air conditioning market, competitors such as Midea, Haier, Hisense, and TCL are also developing better and better. In addition, the layout of companies such as Xiaomi and Huawei in the "human car home" ecosystem is further intensifying competition in the home appliance industry.

Overseas markets' independent 'efforts

In terms of overseas markets, the overall situation in the first half of this year has shown a rebound compared to 2025. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, the export value of China's home appliance industry in the first half of 2026 was 61.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%, reaching a historic high in scale.

In the first half of this year, the European market became a hot topic due to the extreme weather and the rush to purchase Chinese air conditioners. However, according to data from the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, in terms of specific products, the largest year-on-year decline in the export value of air conditioners in the first half of the year was 11.1%; Electric water heaters, refrigerators, dishwashers, and washing machines have seen good growth, with export values increasing by 21.7%, 12.8%, 12.7%, and 11.4% year-on-year, respectively.

In terms of globalization layout, the "three giants" of home appliances have different paths: Midea has targeted market development with the "Local to Local" localization strategy; Haier Smart Home achieves globalization with over 50% of its overseas revenue share; Gree insists on directly competing with the Gree brand in the market, with domestic brands accounting for about 70% of overseas revenue.

Among them, the incident of "rushing to buy Chinese air conditioners" reflects the progress of Midea's globalization strategy. According to data from Midea Group, in the first half of this year, Midea's overseas market revenue accounted for 43.5% of its operating revenue, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%. Among them, this summer, the Midea PortaSplit mobile split air conditioner became a phenomenal hot selling product in the European market, with sales and revenue growth exceeding 200% year-on-year in the first half of the year.

Midea Group also stated that as of June 2026, Midea has nearly 50000 overseas employees; In the first half of 2026, Midea's overseas proprietary brand (OBM) business will grow rapidly, and its revenue has reached over 50% of the overseas revenue of its smart home business; During the same period, the cumulative number of overseas registered users for Midea's smart home applications exceeded 15 million, with an average monthly active user count increasing by over 80% year-on-year.

Unlike Midea's popular products, Haier's overall performance overseas has been stable, while Gree has a significant gap in shipment scale compared to the previous two.

According to Haier Smart Home's 2026 semi annual report, the company's overseas revenue for the first half of this year was approximately 78.776 billion yuan, a decrease of about 3% compared to the same period last year. Overseas revenue accounted for about 51% of the company's operating revenue.

For overseas markets, Haier Smart Home stated that on the one hand, the US market is affected by high inflation, high interest rates, and other factors, which have suppressed the demand for home appliances and led to a decline in market size; On the other hand, markets such as Europe, South Asia, and Southeast Asia have maintained growth, offsetting the downward pressure on the US market.

Gree Electric's semi annual report shows that in the first half of this year, the company's main domestic sales revenue was 72.512 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.90%, with a steady increase; The main export business revenue was 12.744 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 21.98%.

The overall overseas operations have suffered setbacks, but there are still breakthroughs in some regions, "Gree Electric stated in a report. In the first half of 2026, the global consumption recovery will be uneven, terminal demand will be weak, and multiple external pressures such as geopolitical conflicts and high inventory in overseas channels will put overall pressure on the export market of household air conditioners. Among them, the significant decline in business in the Middle East region has dragged down the company's overall overseas market performance, while the company's overseas market strategy of pursuing brand value and quality premium has to some extent affected the scale of overseas shipments.

Gree Electric also stated that in the first half of 2026, the international influence and recognition of the Gree brand will continue to steadily increase. Among them, the market share of independent brands in markets such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Canada has exceeded 20%; The sales scale of Northwest European countries such as Norway and Denmark increased by 92% year-on-year.

(Author Zhang Rui)