Daikin Industries and Gree Electric Appliances' Joint Venture

Promoting Widespread Use of Economical Inverter Air Conditioners

   

Gree, Zhuhai Headquarters and Assembly Line

Back in March 2008, Daikin Industries, Ltd. based in Osaka, Japan and Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai based in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, PRC, signed an agreement to fuse Daikin’s prowess in energy-efficient technology together with Gree’s expertise in production and procurement of raw materials and parts, to manufacture economical and high performance inverter air conditioners.

Both parties agreed to cooperate in a 5-point plan to promote the use of energy-efficient, inverter air conditioners in regions of low market penetration. As a result, two new joint venture companies were established in the middle of March 2009.

Zhuhai Gree Daikin Device Co. Ltd., was set up to standardize and manufacture inverter type compressors and printed circuit boards (PCB) at considerably lower cost; both of which are the key components of global residential air conditioners. The other company, Zhuhai Gree Daikin Precision Mold Co. Ltd., will manufacture high quality moulds at low cost for timely delivery to Daikin manufacturing bases.

With Daikin as the No. 1 player in the global inverter air conditioning market and Gree, the No. 1 player in the non-inverter market, the establishment of these new companies will improve cost competitiveness and enable a broader range of inverter air conditioners to be designed and manufactured. By targeting the expansion of the inverter market into places where market penetration for inverter technology has previously been low, both Daikin and Gree will certainly lead the global air conditioning industry towards a new era of economical inverter air conditioners.

*Adapted from Corporate News – Daikin Industries Ltd, 18 February 2009.