Anyone who has seen a hot spell in London will know how the brutality of the heat. Heritage architecture and a lack of serious hot weather on the other 360 days of the year mean houses don’t come with AC. Now – during a record-breaking heatwave in Europe – Chinese appliance giant Midea is solving that problem, and its PortaSplit portable air conditioner is selling fast.
The surge in demand has become so intense that some units are reportedly being resold above their retail price. Customers are reported to be tracking stock levels online in the hope of securing one before supplies disappear.
Unlike your usual air conditioners (known as split AC), the PortaSplit is designed to sidestep one of Europe’s biggest barriers to cooling: installation. The unit requires no drilling, no specialist tools or permanent modifications. This makes it particularly attractive for renters and residents of older buildings, where strict regulations and landlord approvals often prevent air conditioning instalment.
Chinese businesses are breaking into new high-tech areas of green tech too
It’s a problem that has kept Europe a historically difficult market for air conditioning. But this boom has prompted Chinese manufacturers to ramp up production. Midea says factories in Guangdong are operating around the clock to meet demand. Other Chinese brands like including TCL and Gree are also jumping in with increased output of portable cooling products.
The Dao view: The PortaSplit air conditioner is the tip of China’s climate-related business boom
The conversation this month has been dominated by China Shock 2.0. Yet one of Europe’s breakout Chinese products belongs to the white-goods era of China Shock 1. Portable air conditioners are booming because brands like Midea have built products around the realities of European homes rather than simply exporting what works in China.
As summers grow hotter, climate adaptation is becoming an unexpected catalyst for China’s appliance makers. Chinese businesses are breaking into new high-tech areas of green tech too. The current heatwave will eventually end, but it may have permanently expanded a market that barely existed in Europe just a few years ago.
