On one side is the clear veto from an industry leader, and on the other is the high-profile entry of a new, aggressive brand. Recently, Wanbao Air Conditioner, in collaboration with JD.com's Home Appliance division, launched the "Ice Speed Hero," an air conditioner utilizing a new zinc-aluminum alloy material, pushing the long-debated "aluminum for copper" air conditioners from industry discussions directly into the consumer market. While Wanbao's move from zinc-aluminum alloy to aluminum suggests a strategic, indirect approach to breaking into the market, it nevertheless stands as a landmark event in the ongoing progression of "aluminum for copper" within the air conditioning industry.
The "aluminum for copper" debate has recently become a hot topic in the industry. This is especially true following a recent event where, despite major industry players signing a self-regulatory pact concerning "aluminum for copper," Gree Electric Appliances,Inc.Of Zhuhai's Chairperson, Dong Mingzhu, publicly stated that "Gree will absolutely not use aluminum to replace copper." These two starkly contrasting positions highlight the ideological contest and strategic divergence among air conditioning manufacturers regarding material transformation.
In recent years, calls for "aluminum for copper" in the air conditioning sector have grown louder. However, constrained by market perceptions, these air conditioners have consistently failed to achieve large-scale product launches at the consumer end. Although major domestic and international players, including Midea, Haier, TCL, and Panasonic, possess the corresponding technology and product reserves, widespread caution over intense public scrutiny, lingering consumer doubts, and potential damage to brand reputation has generally prevented them from being the first to push such products into the mainstream domestic market.
An industry insider revealed that "aluminum for copper" air conditioners are often stigmatized with a "corner-cutting" label in the minds of consumers. On one hand, consumers widely believe that "heavier means better," equating the substitution of aluminum for copper with reduced specifications and inferior workmanship. "In 2018 and 2019, some manufacturers secretly made the substitution without lowering prices, which intensified this distrust," the insider stated. Data from the China Consumers Association shows that complaints about air conditioners in the first half of 2025 increased by 22% year-on-year, with issues like "cooling degradation" and "pipe leakage" frequently pointing towards models using aluminum instead of copper.
Wanbao's high-profile launch of the "Ice Speed Hero" series can be considered a milestone event for the commercial application of "aluminum for copper" air conditioners. Wanbao claims the core highlight of the "Ice Speed Hero" lies in its material innovation. The product does not use traditional aluminum tubes but instead a specialized zinc-aluminum alloy material jointly developed with industry leader Jinlong Group. The application of this material enables the air conditioner to achieve energy efficiency surpassing the top national standard, with an energy efficiency ratio as high as 5.30, representing a 32.5% improvement over the national mandatory limit.
Addressing market controversies regarding aluminum's thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, and welding processes, Wanbao also stated that it aims to alleviate user concerns through a comprehensive after-sales guarantee system. This includes offering a 5-year whole-unit warranty, a half-price replacement service from the 6th to the 10th year, and a promise of "replacement-only, no repairs, for quality issues within 365 days."
Despite the controversies, driven by a triple threat of cost pressures, resource endowment, and policy direction, "aluminum for copper" is gradually revealing itself as an irreversible trend in industrial development. Copper prices have repeatedly hit new highs in recent years, while price wars in the domestic air conditioning market have intensified. The price of a 1.5-horsepower, top-tier energy efficiency model has dropped below 1,500 yuan, with some promotional activities pushing prices close to 1,000 yuan. Copper accounts for a hefty 20% to 27% of an air conditioner's manufacturing cost, becoming a significant burden for companies. Estimates indicate that adopting an "aluminum for copper" solution—using aluminum heat exchangers and aluminum wire motors—can reduce the cost of a single unit by 200 to 350 yuan, providing a crucial profit buffer for companies in the fiercely competitive landscape.
It is noted that Wanbao's "Ice Speed Hero" 1.5-horsepower model has a pre-sale price starting from just 999 yuan, more than 20% lower than a copper-based air conditioner of the same specifications, directly demonstrating this cost advantage. A deeper motivation for "aluminum for copper" is supply chain autonomy and control. China is a classic example of a country "rich in aluminum but poor in copper," with domestic copper ore resources accounting for only about 4% of the global total and a dependence on imported refined copper raw materials as high as 80%. Conversely, China's electrolytic aluminum production constitutes 60% of the global output, indicating strong autonomous control over the aluminum industry chain. Promoting "substituting aluminum for copper" helps reduce reliance on imported copper resources and safeguards national strategic resource security.
In March 2025, a joint implementation plan for the high-quality development of the aluminum industry (2025-2027) issued by ten departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, explicitly identified "promoting the application of 'aluminum for copper' in scenarios such as heat exchange aluminum tubes for refrigerator and air conditioner heat exchangers" as the primary direction for expanding aluminum consumption. Furthermore, "aluminum for copper" is already a mature technology globally. According to data from Norway's Norsk Hydro, the usage rate of aluminum materials in global HVAC equipment has reached approximately 40%. Daikin Industries announced as early as 2021 that it would extensively use "aluminum for copper" and planned to halve its copper usage in air conditioners by 2025. Currently, the share of "aluminum for copper" air conditioners in the Japanese market has reached 40%-50%, around 30%-40% in South Korea and Southeast Asia, and about 15%-20% in the United States. Major Chinese companies like Midea, Hisense, Haier, and TCL have also scaled up the application or possess reserves of aluminum heat exchanger technology in models exported to markets such as North America.
However, despite the clear trend, the advancement of "aluminum for copper" has been less than ideal in recent years, primarily due to significant divergence among companies. A majority supportive camp and an opposing camp, represented by Gree, have formed, and the contest between these two factions is intensifying. In early December 2025, a landmark event occurred at the "2025 China Home Appliance Technology Annual Conference": mainstream air conditioning brands including Haier, Midea, Hisense, TCL, Aux, and Xiaomi jointly signed the "Self-Regulatory Convention of the Air Conditioner Aluminum Strengthening Application Research Working Group." This convention prohibits malicious attacks, advocates for the scientific promotion of the characteristics of aluminum heat exchanger air conditioners, forbids exaggeration or false promises, and aims to genuinely enhance consumer trust in industry products and technology. This laid an important foundation of industry self-regulation for the healthy and orderly development of "aluminum for copper" technology domestically.
But in reality, beneath the surface of collective promotion, the market strategies of various companies have diverged significantly. Brands represented by Wanbao have adopted an aggressive market pioneer strategy, taking the lead in pushing products to the end consumer. In contrast, industry leader Gree represents the cautious faction. Gree's Chairperson, Dong Mingzhu, recently publicly voiced her opposition. Gree officials have also publicly reiterated that they currently have no plans for "aluminum for copper," emphasizing the advantages of copper in terms of thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, and long-term reliability, and stating they will not make the substitution without 100% certainty.
Commenting on the strategic differences among companies, industrial economy observer Liang Zhenpeng stated that, from the perspective of basic常识 in the air conditioning industry, "aluminum for copper" inevitably sacrifices some product performance, quality, and service life. A home appliance analyst further added that the supportive side aims to reduce costs through material substitution, thereby enhancing price competitiveness and capturing the mid-to-low-end market; the opposing side, however, uses "all-copper materials" as a point of differentiation to create market segmentation and attract consumers with higher quality demands, a stance that in itself serves as an effective brand promotion method.
Comments