U.S. Air Conditioning hits the national standard and rubs the ball and is accused of expanding the scale.

Since the implementation of the mandatory national standard for the new national standard of energy efficiency in air-conditioning in June 2010, Level 3 energy efficiency has become the minimum threshold for market access for home air conditioners. However, a reporter from the Economic Information Daily recently found that Midea Air Conditioning still produces and sells high-energy home cabinet air conditioners, and puts them on the “commercial air conditioners” legal suit to hit the national standard “trimming the ball”.

Consumers in many places complained about "energy efficiency fraud"

According to the latest news received by the reporter on the 28th, in countries across the country, consumers who purchased the United States’ production and sales have explicitly ordered the consumers of energy-efficient air conditioners that have eliminated the delisting to declare their “energy efficiency frauds”. Among them, Deng Hao, a resident of Longgang District of Shenzhen, Guangdong, is suing the US for a lawsuit to be heard in October.

Deng Hao told reporters that in August of this year, he purchased air conditioners at a shop in Shenzhen Fujia Department Store Co., Ltd., and the sales staff recommended him a model air conditioner with the model “L F7.2WW/L YG A(5)”. The price is 4,600 yuan. "When I bought it, the salesman warmly recommended this air conditioner, which is a good and inexpensive product." Deng Hao discovered after the purchase, this air-conditioning energy consumption is very high, he checked the Internet, only to know this Level 5 energy efficiency air conditioning does not meet the requirements of the national mandatory standards, and it is an unqualified product. When he wants to return the product, the US side rejects it.

Deng Hao said that this five-level energy-efficient home air conditioner, the production date for March 2011, is a national "air conditioning energy efficiency new standard" after the release of illegal production, sales of unqualified products.

Quan Quansheng, a consumer in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, is similar to Deng Hao. Lin Quansheng said in his complaint that the new national energy efficiency standard has been formally implemented. The illegal production and sales of the United States have eliminated the use of energy-efficient air conditioners that have been delisted. This is a serious fraud and illegal act. However, the reporter called Lin Quansheng’s lawyer on the 28th to learn that at present, the consumer has settled out of court with the United States.

Deng Hao and Lin Quansheng told reporters that they were not told that they were "commercial air conditioners" when they were recommended to purchase the US high-energy air conditioners.

Midea: Playing the “commercial” banner to sell high-energy-consuming air conditioners is not against the lawsuit against Guangdong consumers. The US company’s claim is that the LF 7.2WW/L YG A(5) model air conditioner is a commercial air conditioner, not an ordinary household air conditioner, and the national energy efficiency is new. The standard does not specify the energy consumption of commercial air conditioners.

When a reporter called the US customer service staff in Beijing as a consumer to inquire whether the air conditioner of the LF7.2W W/LY-G A(5) model meets the national mandatory performance efficiency standard and whether it can be produced and sold, a customer service representative of Liu Xing stated that the The air-conditioner is indeed the product that is still produced and sold by the United States after the new national air-conditioning energy efficiency standard is issued. However, Midea’s company currently classifies it as “commercial air-conditioning”, so it can “bypass” the national mandatory standards control and produce and sell its products. Not illegal. When a reporter asked whether this air-conditioner was being sold to consumers who wanted to buy home air conditioners, the customer service staff said that ordinary consumers could buy beautiful commercial air conditioners, but the warranty and after-sales service of their products would be based on the company’s plans for commercial air conditioners. Terms of implementation.

This argument was refuted by experts. According to industry experts, the difference between three-to-five commercial and residential air-conditioner cabinets is mainly due to differences in appearance and consumer groups. The air conditioning of the United States that is suspected of violating regulations not only sells to ordinary household consumers, but also looks similar to home air conditioners.

Experts also pointed out that according to the current national technical standards, there are certain crossovers between the commercial machines and home machines that have a size of 5 or less, and U.S. intends to drill holes that are prescribed by the state.

The company's “structural adjustment” strategy was blocked. Air-conditioning industry insiders told the “Economic Information Daily” that Midea’s public sale of high-energy-consuming air-conditioners to ordinary household consumers in several home appliance stores and “commercial” use of “commercial” signs to bypass legal loopholes. This is due to the "upscale" formulation in its corporate strategy. At the same time, however, the company's other strategic "structural adjustment" will be blocked.

According to reports, in addition to energy efficiency standards in other aspects of the configuration of similar cabinet air conditioner, marked "commercial" level 5 energy efficiency and labeled "home" level 1 energy efficiency products, the price can be up to about 2 times worse, the former The low price advantage obviously makes it more price-competitive in the home air-consumption consumer market, and can become a “chip” for the US to rapidly expand its sales scale.

Public information shows that Midea’s companies have always adhered to the strategies of “scale up” and “adjust structure”. “Upscale” refers to increasing the coverage rate of all levels of the market and effectively increasing the influence of the company’s brand; “Structure Adjustment” refers to the continuous optimization of the product structure and the continuous increase in the proportion of high-margin products. The report data of the United States shows that the sales scale of the company has indeed gone up, bringing about a substantial increase in operating income; but has the structure been adjusted?

Midea’s 2011 semi-annual report showed that during the reporting period, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 62.037 billion, an increase of 58.97% year-on-year; of this, air-conditioning and parts and components achieved revenues of over RMB 42.5 billion, accounting for 68.53% of operating revenue, and operating profits of RMB 7.6 billion. In the first half of the year, domestic air-conditioning sales totaled 76.548 million units, an increase of 48.51% year-on-year.

However, the semi-annual report also stated that: During the reporting period, the company achieved a net profit of 1.975 billion yuan. Although it increased by 13.64% year-on-year, it drastically lost revenue. In particular, the gross profit margin of air-conditioning and parts and components decreased by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year to 18%.

Analysts believe that the air-conditioning business, as the pillar business of Midea, has made the most important contribution to the rapid growth of the company's operating income. However, the company's net profit growth rate has also significantly deteriorated due to the decline in the gross profit margin of the air-conditioning business.

The reason for the decline in gross profit margin was explained by Midea's company because the cost of rare earths and other costs climbed more than expected.

A person from the securities industry pointed out that Midea’s company, as one of the domestic air-conditioning “one brother” companies, has increased raw materials such as rare earths. With its status as an industry, the price transmission capability should be very good, and the cost increase should be transmitted to the price increase of its products. It should be very fast. . However, why does the increase in cost mean that the average price of its products has not risen? A series of repeated complaints from consumers about Midea's sales of high-energy-consumption air-conditioners inevitably led people in the industry to suspect that Midea’s “commercial air-conditioning” with low price and high energy consumption occupied market share, boosting the “scale” to become a reality, and “adjusting the structure”. It becomes a victim.