Chinese-made air conditioners are selling well in Europe, with Midea Group shipping 200,000 no-installation, portable units from the beginning of 2026 to the end of June, double the total shipments for the entire year of 2025.
With the domestic market sluggish, Chinese companies are aiming to use this success as a springboard to develop overseas markets.
At Midea’s factory in Nansha, Guangdong, in July, boxed PortaSplit mobile air conditioners were being loaded into containers one after another by forklifts. The containers were then loaded onto trucks and departed for hubs on freight routes connecting China and Europe by sea and land.
Europe experienced a record heat wave in late June, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in France and Germany. Amidst the surge in demand for air conditioners, the PortaSplit became a bestseller. Midea announced in late July that it had received 160,000 new orders for the PortaSplit since June. The product became difficult to obtain in some parts of Europe due to shortages.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the air conditioning installation rate in Europe was only 23% in 2025. Europe has many older apartment buildings, and construction work such as drilling holes in the exterior walls is restricted to protect the buildings. Even in residences without such restrictions, the cost of air conditioning installation is high, and it is often difficult to book an appointment.
Midea was quick to recognize these challenges. “It all started when our European team grasped the needs and made a proposal,” said Zhao Ali, Midea’s European product manager for air conditioning.
To overcome the difficulties of air conditioner installation in Europe, Midea’s domestic R&D department and its design department based in Italy spent three years developing the PortaSplit.
The PortaSplit is priced at roughly EUR 1,000 (USD 1,154.1) and users can set it up themselves, requiring no professional installation. The outdoor unit weighs about ten kilograms, light enough for an average person to lift, and is installed on the outside of windows or balcony doors. The indoor unit has wheels, allowing it to be moved around on the floor.
Midea said that while portable air conditioners had existed on the market before, low-priced models costing around EUR 200–300 (USD 230.8–346.2) had problems such as poor cooling performance and high noise levels. The PortaSplit solved these issues, leading to a surge in sales.
China’s Hisense Group, a major home appliance manufacturer, also saw air conditioner sales in Europe climb. In France, sales from January to June doubled compared to the same period last year, and sales across Western Europe rose 20%.
According to the China’s General Administration of Customs, exports of air conditioner-related products from China to Europe from January to June jumped by 80% on the year to RMB 1.4 billion (USD 207.1 million) in France, and by 60% to RMB 1.4 billion (USD 207.1 million) in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, air conditioner sales in China remain sluggish. According to research firm Beijing All View Cloud Data Technology, domestic sales from January to June totaled 59.67 million units, down 6% from the same period last year. This is attributable to a decline in housing sales due to the real estate recession.
Exports to the US and Russia have also dropped, with China’s air conditioner exports from January to June down 9% to RMB 113.6 billion (USD 16.8 billion). Amid declining exports to the domestic market and markets outside of Europe, Chinese home appliance makers hope to leverage the success of their air conditioners in the European market to expand their business opportunities.
“By selling original products to the market, Chinese companies can break the stereotype of Chinese brands as ‘OEM (original equipment manufacturer)’ in overseas markets,” said Xiong Xueqin, sales director for European residential air conditioners at Midea.
This article first appeared on Nikkei Asia. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with Nikkei.
Note: EUR, RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of EUR 0.87 = USD 1 and RMB 6.76 = USD 1 based on estimates as of August 12, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.