Sales of Chinese-made air conditioners and fans are surging as record-breaking heat waves grip Europe, driving up demand for cooling appliances.
Demand for cooling appliances rose broadly across major European markets, with wholesale orders for portable fans climbing sharply in particular, according to Alibaba.com on June 30. In six of the eight European markets surveyed, the growth rate for fan orders exceeded that for air conditioners.
Fan orders in Sweden rose 375% from a year earlier, while Belgium and Switzerland increased 114% and 34%, respectively. France also saw portable fan orders climb 31%.
By contrast, Spain was the only surveyed country where the growth rate for air conditioner orders (100%) outpaced that for fans. Alibaba.com cited older housing structures, installation restrictions in rental properties, high electricity costs and long waiting periods for air conditioner installation as reasons behind the popularity of portable fans in Europe. The trend is seen as a result of local wholesalers and retailers rushing to stock up on cooling appliances in anticipation of a prolonged heat wave.
A similar pattern was confirmed in the retail market. According to a report by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), fan sales in Spain on AliExpress from June 17 to 23 rose 94% from the same period a month earlier. In Italy, sales of cooling appliances and UV-protective clothing doubled in June from the previous month.
Chinese appliance makers including Midea, Gree Electric, TCL and Haier are also benefiting from expanding cooling demand driven by climate change. Midea said its flagship "Portasplit" air conditioner has been especially popular this year. The company said air conditioner sales in Western Europe rose more than 70% in the first half from a year earlier, and forecast that annual European sales of the Portasplit would reach 300,000 units.
Gree Electric said air conditioner sales in France, Italy, Spain and other markets rose more than 40% year-on-year from January to June. Chen Shaolin, president of TCL's air conditioner division, said in a recent interview with Chinese media that some products were "already completely sold out."
The surge in local demand is also translating into expanded exports of Chinese air conditioners to Europe. According to the latest Chinese customs statistics, China's air conditioner exports in May reached 3.33 million dollars (about 5.164 billion won) to France, 2.82 million dollars (about 4.373 billion won) to Germany, and 7.69 million dollars (about 11.925 billion won) to the Netherlands. Compared with a year earlier, those figures represent increases of 186.2%, 69.6% and 139.1%, respectively.
