Looking at this year’s 618 major e-commerce platform air conditioner competition list, the top position is still occupied by traditional giants such as Midea, Gree, and Haier. The industry structure seems to have been solidified for a long time. However, a closer look at the list reveals that Xiaomi, which ranks fourth, is tearing up the market gap with an extremely impactful price strategy. Its 1.5 HP new first-level energy-efficient air conditioner is priced as low as 1,891 yuan, directly reaching the top of the sub-category list, and even briefly surpassed the same-level products of traditional leading brands.
This is not a simple promotion and profit sharing, but a precise market layout for young consumer groups.
Currently, a large number of young renters working hard in first- and second-tier cities have become the new main force in home appliance consumption: they have limited budgets but have high requirements for quality of life and are highly price sensitive. At the same time, because of their high mobility, they are unwilling to pay high costs for large appliances. The price of 1,891 yuan just hits the psychological safety line of this group. It is an “asset-light investment” in the rental scenario. Even if they move and give up later, they will not cause excessive losses.
In addition to the price advantage, intelligent experience is the core selling point that meets the needs of young users.
This air conditioner can be seamlessly linked with Xiaomi mobile phones and Xiaoai speakers of the same ecology, and supports functions such as remote early start-up and temperature adjustment, voice control of temperature and wind speed, etc. The simple appearance design is suitable for various rental house decoration styles, and the standardized installation service also reduces the waiting cost for users, which is equivalent to customizing a complete air-conditioning solution for the rental community.
From the supply side, Xiaomi’s strategy is a typical ecological chain collaboration logic: first, it accumulates a huge user base and brand recognition through core smart terminals, and then gradually replicates its mature cost-effective, full-ecological linkage model to the major home appliances track. In the short term, it does not pursue overall sales volume to catch up with traditional giants, but first seizes the minds of young users as “the first choice for smart air conditioners” and wins the right to speak in subdivided tracks.
Faced with the oncoming cross-border players, traditional giants also quickly came up with response plans.
Midea’s main rejuvenation sub-brand Hualing is backed by Midea’s mature compressor technology and after-sales system. It also focuses on high cost performance and online channels. Its current online market share has reached 10.36%, with an average price of 2,108 yuan. It has no pressure to compete with Xiaomi products.
Gree has chosen to stick to the quality route. On the one hand, it strengthens Yunjia and other cost-effective series to stabilize its basic market. On the other hand, it insists on not participating in vicious price wars. It focuses on technology accumulation and offline channel advantages. However, its current average online price is 3,528 yuan, which is more than a thousand yuan away from Xiaomi’s average price of 2,418 yuan. The online market segment does face certain growth pressure.
Behind this price war lies the upgrade logic of the air-conditioning track: future air conditioners will no longer be single cooling and heating equipment. With the natural advantages of being powered on 24 hours a day, located in the core space of the home, and equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, it is expected to become the environmental management center of smart homes. In the future, it can integrate functions such as personnel sensing, air quality monitoring, and whole-house intelligent device linkage. Competition on the track will be upgraded from price and configuration competition to a contest of ecological construction capabilities.
The current industry war is far from over. All players need to rethink the product positioning of future air conditioners, the groups they serve, and their strategies in the overall smart home layout.
