On August 27, Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliances Inc. (Gree Electric) announced that its revenue for the first half of this year decreased by 8.15% compared to the same period last year, and its net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 7.87%, resulting in a decline in both revenue and profit. This indicates overall pressure on the Chinese air conditioning industry.
According to the “2026 Interim Report” released by Gree Electric on the 27th, “In the first half of 2026, the company achieved a total operating income of 89.673 billion yuan, a decrease of 8.14% year-on-year, and realized a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of 13.278 billion yuan, a decrease of 7.87% year-on-year.”
The “report” shows that in terms of revenue composition, the proportion of main business income has increased, with “the company achieving main business income of 85.256 billion yuan in the first half of the year, a decrease of 2.56% year-on-year, and other business income of 4.142 billion yuan, a decrease of 57.87% year-on-year. Main business income accounted for 95.37% of operating revenue, an increase of 5.47 percentage points year-on-year.”
Gree Electric stated that due to the decline in revenue and profit, it will not distribute interim cash dividends.
In explaining the dual decline in revenue and profit, the announcement attributed it mainly to the overall downturn in the mainland’s household and commercial air conditioning industries, compounded by factors such as declining overseas sales and high raw material prices.
It’s not just Gree Electric, the entire mainland air conditioning industry has seen a decline in sales. According to online industry data, in the first half of 2026, the total sales of China’s household air conditioning industry decreased by 6.2% year-on-year. The data from AVC shows that in the first half of the year, the domestic retail volume of the household air conditioning industry decreased by 13.1% year-on-year, with retail sales declining by 15.9% year-on-year.
Apart from air conditioning, the overall Chinese home appliance market is also declining. According to data from AVC, in the first half of 2026, the overall retail sales of Chinese home appliances decreased by 9.9% year-on-year, with a 6.2% and 12.4% year-on-year decline in the first and second quarters, respectively.
“First Finance” magazine noted on August 26 that in the first half of 2026, factors such as the downturn and downgrading of consumption in the mainland have led to overall pressure on the home appliance industry, with both household and commercial air conditioning industries showing a general decline, further intensifying industry competition.