A portable air conditioner from a Chinese home appliance giant has become a must-have item for Europeans battling a severe heatwave.
Recently, extreme high temperatures have frequently hit many parts of Europe, leading to a frenzied buying spree for a particular "loophole-exploiting" portable split-type air conditioner from Midea Group.
On secondary markets, the price of this unit has reportedly surged from its original price of around 6,000 yuan to as high as 30,000 yuan.
Sales Surge and Product Design
Regarding the product's popularity, Midea officially stated that the heatwave has significantly boosted sales, with the PortaSplit model already sold out in some sales channels.
This model, named PortaSplit, is specifically designed to comply with various European regulations, perfectly addressing the cooling needs of local users without requiring drilling, violating rules, or hiring expensive professional installers.
The product's success is backed by Midea's long-term strategy of deepening its global operations.
Last year, the company's overseas revenue reached 195.95 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.92%, which was 6.52 percentage points higher than its domestic growth rate.
Concurrently, the proportion of overseas revenue in Midea's total revenue has been rising, climbing from 41.52% in 2024 to 42.93% last year, indicating a further optimization of the revenue structure and highlighting the effectiveness of its global expansion.
First-Quarter Performance Details
However, as a globally operating company, Midea also faced certain challenges in the first quarter of this year.
The company's other comprehensive income decreased from -469 million yuan in the same period last year to -3.045 billion yuan, and its financial income decreased by 4.19 billion yuan year-on-year to -1.35 billion yuan.
Overall, in the first quarter, Midea achieved operating revenue of 131.10 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.55%, and recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of 12.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.03%.
However, the company's non-GAAP net profit declined, falling 14.02% year-on-year to 10.96 billion yuan.
It is worth noting that in the recently released "2026 New Fortune 500 Rich List," Midea's founder, He Xiangjian, and his son, He Jianfeng, were listed with a fortune of 198.98 billion yuan.
European Heatwave Drives Demand
Recently, a heatwave has swept across the European continent, repeatedly breaking high-temperature records in many areas.
A high-pressure system has continuously transported hot air from North Africa to Europe, causing temperatures in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain to be 5 to 12 degrees Celsius above seasonal averages.
Last week, temperatures in many parts of France exceeded 40°C, with Paris recording an outdoor temperature of 45°C on June 25th.
From noon on the 25th to noon on the 26th, three-quarters of France was under a red alert for extreme heat.
Amid the sweltering heat, easy-to-install portable split-type air conditioners from Chinese companies like Midea have become sought-after cooling devices, being snapped up by Europeans.
A consumer from Austria mentioned on social media that Midea's PortaSplit is almost sold out everywhere in the EU.
Another German consumer also noted that every air conditioning unit is sold out, and Chinese portable split air conditioners are out of stock within a 100-kilometer radius.
The PortaSplit is a model customized by Midea for the European market, with the cooling-only version priced at 900 euros (approximately 6,000 yuan) and the cooling/heating version at 1,200 euros (approximately 9,000 yuan).
Despite the premium price, after selling out, the PortaSplit is being resold on secondary platforms by European resellers at 3 to 5 times its original price.
A cooling-only unit originally priced around 6,000 yuan has reportedly been resold for up to nearly 30,000 yuan.
The intense demand and scarcity of the PortaSplit locally are largely due to its precise alignment with various European regulations.
In Spain, installing an external unit is considered an alteration to the building facade, requiring approval from three-fifths of the building's owners' meeting.
Italy mandates that air conditioners must be installed by certified professionals, with fines of up to 100,000 euros for unauthorized installation.
The PortaSplit's outdoor unit is secured via a window bracket, requiring no tools or drilling, and is legally classified as an "internal appliance placed on a shelf," cleverly circumventing the ban on facade alterations.
Furthermore, France requires specialized inspection for equipment containing over 2kg of refrigerant; Germany strictly enforces a nighttime noise limit not exceeding 35 decibels; and Switzerland mandates an energy efficiency rating no lower than A++.
In response, Midea precisely designed the PortaSplit's refrigerant capacity at 1.99kg, developed a quiet mode to control operating noise at 35 decibels, and achieved a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) of 6.1, just meeting the lower limit of Switzerland's A++ range (6.1-8.5).
On its overseas website, Midea promotes that the PortaSplit requires no installation procedures, tools, or drilling, and can easily adapt to various installation scenarios such as standard windows, skylights, French windows, balcony doors, and camper van windows.
In its 2024 interim report, Midea mentioned that in the first half of 2024, it launched the industry's first user-DIY installable PortaSplit portable split air conditioner for the European market.
Featuring a pre-connected lightweight compact outdoor unit and an innovative self-developed multi-scenario installation bracket, it enables quick installation in three steps, saving thousands of euros in installation fees.
On June 26th, a Midea Air Conditioning representative stated that its factory in Shunde is working overtime to replenish production of this portable split air conditioner, which is being transported via the China-Europe Railway Express to meet some of the demand during Europe's peak summer season.
A person in charge of Midea's overseas air conditioning business revealed that sales in some Western European countries have shown strong growth this year.
Markets with lower air conditioning penetration rates, such as France, Spain, Germany, and the UK, have achieved year-on-year growth of over 70%.
However, overall inventory levels and weather conditions in Eastern Europe do not support high growth.
The aforementioned person in charge also pointed out that air conditioning installation fees in Western Europe are expensive, ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 euros per unit, with wait times exceeding two months during summer.
Therefore, they focused on developing easy-to-install portable split air conditioners to address the difficulty of installing outdoor units in Europe's older apartments and standalone houses.
Its price is higher than that of ordinary portable air conditioners, but its total cost is cheaper than that of split systems (including installation fees).
Overseas Growth and Strategic Acquisitions
According to its annual report, Midea describes itself as a globally operating company.
Currently, it has over 600 subsidiaries, 41 R&D centers, and 65 major manufacturing bases worldwide, with more than 190,000 employees and operations in over 200 countries and regions.
Overseas, Midea has established 29 R&D centers and 43 major manufacturing bases across more than 20 countries and regions.
In 2025, as part of its global breakthrough strategy, the number of countries/regions covered by Midea's overseas self-operated branches increased from 27 in 2024 to 50, effectively supporting the rapid growth of its overseas Original Brand Manufacturer (OBM) business.
In 2025, OBM business revenue already accounted for over 45% of the overseas revenue from its smart home business.
As a crucial part of the group's strategy to expand its smart home business overseas, in April last year, Midea completed the acquisition of the German home appliance manufacturer Teka Group (excluding its Russian subsidiary) for approximately 213 million euros.
Teka Group currently operates in over 120 countries across five continents, holding significant positions in markets such as Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Thailand, Turkey, Germany, the UAE, and the Nordic region.
The group has an annual production capacity of millions of units, with 10 production bases in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and nearly 3,000 employees.
In its annual report, Midea stated that through the acquisition of Teka, it achieved deep synergy in resources for home appliance product R&D, manufacturing, sales, and channels, comprehensively advancing its full-value-chain "In Europe, for Europe" strategy.
Through systematic integration and leveraging Teka's advantageous resources, Midea continues to promote cross-selling of multiple brands and product categories, driving double-digit high growth in European regional revenue.
In addition to Teka, in February last year, Midea also completed the acquisition of Arbonia Climate for 542 million euros as a strategic move to expand its HVAC business.
Arbonia Climate is a company specializing in indoor climate system solutions, headquartered in Switzerland, with a business scope covering heating, cooling, ventilation equipment, and energy storage systems.
Arbonia Climate owns numerous brands, including system brands like KERMI, PROLUX, SABIANA, and VASCO, and product brands like arbonia, Britec, Brugman, Cicsa, PZP, Solius, Superia, Tecna, and Termovent.
Subsequently, Midea merged the Italian Clivet air conditioning business with the newly acquired Arbonia Climate to form MBT Climate.
In July last year, the MBT Climate R&D center was officially inaugurated in Italy, aiming to establish an international R&D benchmark in the HVAC field.
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