Midea named most valuable appliance company worldwide

Midea Group has become the most valuable home appliance company in China and the world, a latest report from Hurun Research showed.

With a value of 510 billion yuan ($75.63 billion), the Foshan, Guangdong province-based Midea took first place in the ranking. Over the past five years, Midea's market value has increased 3.6 times. Last year, the company registered operating revenue of 278.2 billion yuan.

Gree, which was valued at 321 billion yuan, came in second place, followed by Haier Smart Home (186 billion yuan) and JS Global Lifestyle (42 billion yuan), according to the Hurun China Top 10 Most Valuable Electrical Appliance Companies 2020 list.

The top 10 ranking, released by Hurun for the first time, was based on market capitalization or valuation of China's private home appliance companies.

These companies all have their self-developed brands. However, the ranking excluded consumer electronics companies such as Xiaomi, as well as TCL, which sold its smart terminal business in 2018.

Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, said 5G, Internet of Things and big data have huge development prospects for the home appliance industry.

The effect of online channels on the home appliance industry is growing, Hoogewerf said, adding that in China's home appliance market, which has a market size of 900 billion yuan, online sales account for nearly 40 percent and the ratio is increasing. Tmall and JD have become leading enterprises, and the industry is no longer dominated by Gome and Suning.

China's home appliance industry has become mature, with total accumulated value of the top three companies accounting for 80 percent of the total, Hoogewerf said.

Except for Galanz Group, the remaining nine are all listed companies, which is rare to see in China, he added.

The businesses of the top 10 home appliance enterprises cover air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, soybean milk makers, kitchen ventilators, microwave ovens, robot vacuum cleaners and more.

Geographically, the top 10 list includes four companies from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, four companies from the Yangtze River Delta and the remaining from Beijing and Qingdao.