The competition between old and new forces in the air conditioning industry depends not only on short-term sales but also on long-term quality and technological competition.

The "war of words" between Xiaomi and Gree over air conditioner sales rankings continues to escalate.

On August 25, Zhu Lei, marketing director of Gree Electric Appliances,Inc.Of Zhuhai (000651.SZ), posted on Weibo inviting Xiaomi air conditioners to join the ten-year free maintenance program. This came just days after he questioned Xiaomi's sales data.

Previously, data suggested that Xiaomi's online air conditioner sales had surpassed Gree.

On August 16, Ovi Cloud Network released a summary of the home appliance market for July 2025 (online segment), showing that Xiaomi's online air conditioner sales exceeded Gree's in July.

Specifically, Midea, Xiaomi, and Gree ranked as the top three in China's online air conditioner market share. Xiaomi held a 16.71% market share with a 2.83% year-on-year increase, while Gree's market share was 15.22%, down 1.1% year-on-year.

Wang Hua, General Manager of Public Relations at XIAOMI-W (01810.HK), reposted the related Weibo and commented, "Didn't expect the new era to come so quickly."

However, on the evening of August 18, Zhu Lei posted on Weibo stating that according to Ovi Cloud Network (AVC) data, Gree maintained its lead in the online market in July.

Regarding the data discrepancy, when checking the Ovi data dashboard at the time, July's domestic air conditioner online market sales ranking showed Gree in second place, behind only Midea, with a market share of 17.65%, while Xiaomi ranked third with a 15.73% market share.

Industry insiders believe the data differences stem from Ovi changing its statistical methodology, though it's unclear whether such changes are frequent.

On the evening of August 19, Lu Weibing, partner and president of XIAOMI-W (01810.HK), stated during an earnings briefing that he doesn't pay much attention to short-term rankings, emphasizing that what matters is whether the long-term landscape changes and whether ultimate victory will belong to Xiaomi.

In response, Zhu Lei replied again on August 25: "Well said! But here's the question. If you don't care about short-term rankings, why repost that chart of unknown origin? Once posted, the entire internet exploded with various comments attacking Gree, forcing me to spend time investigating and fact-checking the data."

According to the Ovi (AVC) data dashboard, as of August 17, 2025, Gree and Xiaomi held 17.71% and 15.77% respectively of domestic household air conditioner online market sales volume, with Gree's online market share still higher than Xiaomi's. Moreover, when looking at sales revenue, the gap is even larger. During the same period, Gree held 23.35% of domestic household air conditioner online sales revenue, ranking second, while Xiaomi's revenue share was 14.82%, ranking third.

A senior industry insider analyzed that industry data comparisons shouldn't focus on just one week or month but should look at the entire year, and shouldn't only consider online markets but all channels.

Ovi data shows that as of August 17, 2025, in the domestic household air conditioner offline market, Gree held a 29.42% sales revenue share, ranking first, while Xiaomi's sales revenue share was 0.26%, ranking eighteenth. In terms of offline market sales volume, Gree held a 26.15% share, ranking second, while Xiaomi's share was 0.43%, ranking sixteenth. Xiaomi's offline market share still has a significant gap compared to Gree.

"Short-term sales rankings aren't important. Long-term quality determines victory," Zhu Lei stated, adding that if industry competition remains focused on short-term sales and low-price competition, it will eventually fall into a "bad money drives out good money" dilemma. Therefore, he hopes Xiaomi and other competitors will join the "ten-year free maintenance" program.

Xiaomi has been actively expanding its air conditioner and other white goods business in recent years. Its air conditioner factory in Wuhan will begin production by the end of this year, with an expected annual production capacity of 3 million units by 2026 and a production value target of 10 billion yuan by 2030. Consequently, Xiaomi has intensified its market offensive this year, launching "thousand-yuan" air conditioners around May Day, prompting some competitors to follow suit. In the second quarter of this year, Xiaomi's air conditioner shipments exceeded 5.4 million units, with growth rates exceeding 60%. Lu Weibing noted that average air conditioner prices increased by approximately 10% during the quarter.

Facing competition from emerging brands like Xiaomi, Gree has responded by launching new air conditioner products equipped with AI dynamic energy-saving chips, using its sub-brand Jinghong to introduce more cost-effective air conditioners for the engineering market, and reducing regional sales company expenses to benefit terminal retailers. Sources indicate that Gree's mid-range air conditioner products for the new cooling year (starting August 1) have reduced wholesale prices to retailers by approximately 10%.