Midea

Midea Group Co., Ltd. is a Chinese technology group headquartered in Shunde, Guangdong. Founded by He Xiangjian in 1968, it started out as a small township workshop and grew with home appliance manufacturing as its main business; it has now formed a business matrix that gives equal weight to ToC and ToB development, and is listed on both the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to the company’s 2014 letter to shareholders, growth in the home appliance industry slowed overall in 2014; Midea adhered to its strategy of “product leadership, efficiency-driven, global operations”, its revenue exceeded 140 billion yuan and its net profit exceeded 10 billion yuan that year, its overseas footprint was further optimised, and its own brands achieved rapid growth.

In 2014, Midea made a flurry of moves in research and development and business layout: it set up a “Central Research Institute” and a “Smart Home Research Institute”, established a four-tier R&D system and launched a “Global Innovation Center”; it set up an e-commerce company to operate its official online store and expand its online business; it released its M-SMART smart home strategy, using open cooperation to advance its internet-home layout and the building of an ecosystem chain; and it introduced an equity incentive plan to build a long-term incentive mechanism. The letter to shareholders regarded the business transformation pursued since 2011 as the foundation of the company’s position at the time, emphasising focusing on its industries, making good products and returning to the fundamentals of business operation.

In 2015, the home appliance market as a whole was depressed and competition intensified, and Midea continued to deepen its transformation. According to the company’s 2015 letter to shareholders, that year the company achieved 17% year-on-year growth in net profit while keeping overall revenue basically stable; its “Global Innovation Center” was put into use, the company worked to build a multi-tier, globally competitive R&D system and layout, deepened its dual-smart strategy of “smart home + intelligent manufacturing”, and laid out growth room for new businesses. In the same year, Midea entered the Forbes Global 500 list of companies and ranked 32nd on the Fortune China 500 list, first in the home appliance industry; it also ranked 13th among China’s top 500 private enterprises and 38th among China’s top 500 manufacturing enterprises. That year the company became the first Chinese home appliance company to obtain international credit ratings from all three major agencies, S&P, Fitch and Moody’s; on the R&F Global 2015 (21st) list of China’s 100 most valuable brands, the “Midea” brand ranked 6th with a value of 71.611 billion yuan. As of 2015, the company had accumulated a total of 21,581 granted patents.

According to the company’s 2016 letter to shareholders, in 2016 Midea fully achieved its operating targets, its industry position became more secure, its efficiency indicators kept improving, its asset structure was optimised and its overseas business grew across the board; with the successive completion of global industrial acquisitions including Toshiba’s home appliance business, KUKA, CLIVET and SERVOTRONIX, the company took a key step towards becoming a world-leading technology group in consumer appliances, HVAC, and robotics and industrial automation. That year the company’s market capitalisation grew 34% over the full year, exceeding 200 billion yuan for the first time during the year, and it was also successfully listed in the Fortune Global 500.

According to the company’s 2017 letter to shareholders, Midea achieved revenue of 241.919 billion yuan that year, up 51.35%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 17.284 billion yuan, up 17.71%; it ranked 450th on the 2017 Fortune Global 500 list, up 31 places from the previous year; it ranked 335th on the Forbes 2017 Global 2000 list, up 67 places from the previous year; it rose to 26th in WPP’s annual “2018 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands” ranking, the highest-ranked home appliance brand on the list for three consecutive years; and it was again selected for the TOP10 of China Central Television’s “National Brand Plan” and had been named one of CCTV’s ten best listed companies in China for two consecutive years. As of the end of 2017, Midea’s market capitalisation was 363 billion yuan, having risen more than 100% during the year. The letter to shareholders recalled that Midea, which started as a small township workshop founded by He Xiangjian in 1968, had grown into a technology group spanning consumer appliances, HVAC, robotics and automation systems, and intelligent supply chain (logistics).

According to the company’s 2018 letter to shareholders, in 2018 Midea’s total operating revenue was 261.820 billion yuan, up 8.23% year on year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 20.231 billion yuan, up 17.05% year on year, while it further increased R&D investment and made progress in channel reform, leveraging synergies, industrial internet and IoT practice, and building a multi-brand system. On the 2018 Fortune Global 500 list, Midea ranked 323rd, up 127 places from the previous year and first in China’s home appliance industry; on the “BrandZ 2018 Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands” ranking, Midea ranked 26th, with its brand value up 40%; and on the Global 500 most valuable brands list published by Brand Finance, Midea ranked 138th. In the same year, the company carried out a 4 billion yuan share buyback during a period of market turmoil, the largest regular buyback completed in recent years; cumulative cash dividends since its group-wide listing would reach 35.7 billion yuan (including the 2018 profit distribution proposal), and the shareholding of global investors at one point approached 28%. In 2018, Midea founder He Xiangjian was awarded the title of “Reform Pioneer” by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

According to the company’s 2019 letter to shareholders, in 2019 Midea’s revenue was 279.381 billion yuan, up 6.71% year on year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 24.211 billion yuan, up 19.68% year on year. On the 2019 Fortune Global 500 list, Midea ranked 312th, having risen 169 places since entering the list in 2016; it ranked 36th on the Fortune China 500, having remained first in its industry for five consecutive years; on the “BrandZ 2019 Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands” ranking, Midea ranked 33rd, with its brand value up 20%; and the 2019 “Top 100 Most Valuable Technology Brands” list by the British brand valuation firm Brand Finance showed Midea in 27th place, up 16 places from the previous year and ahead of other domestic brands in its industry. In the same year, the company systematically built and improved its “4+2” global R&D network: the Shanghai Global Innovation Park and the US, German and Japanese R&D centers were developed into comprehensive technology R&D centers, while the Milan design center in Italy served as an industrial design center; it also increased investment to strengthen weaker product categories and made bold attempts at new categories and new models. The letter to shareholders stated that Midea would refocus its strategy, launching and deepening a new round of transformation towards comprehensive digitalisation and comprehensive intelligentisation, driving changes in product forms, business methods and business models, and moving from a hardware-centred company towards a data-driven, innovative technology group.

According to the company’s 2020 letter to shareholders, in 2020 Midea’s revenue was 285.710 billion yuan, up 2.27% year on year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 27.223 billion yuan, up 12.44% year on year, achieving growth against the trend amid the pandemic. The letter stated that in 2021 Midea repositioned its five major business segments and established four new strategic pillars, with technological leadership at the core, promoting equal development of its ToC and ToB businesses, and incubating and laying out new fields such as building controls, core modules for new energy vehicles, industrial automation, semiconductors, and medical imaging and rehabilitation equipment.

According to the company’s 2021 letter to shareholders, at the ten-year mark of its transformation, Midea’s revenue exceeded 300 billion yuan for the first time; it entered the Fortune Global 500 for the sixth consecutive year, was named one of Forbes China’s ten industrial digital transformation enterprises of 2021, and four of its factories were recognised as World Economic Forum “Lighthouse Factories”; despite sharp rises in costs such as commodities, ocean shipping and logistics, and energy supply, the company kept its profitability basically stable. The letter reiterated that Midea had repositioned its five major business segments and established the strategic pillars of technological leadership, digital-intelligent drive, direct user reach and global breakthrough, proposing to use industry-leading technologies to build a second growth curve at this point and to drive the company’s upgrade and transformation from a world-leading home appliance company into a technology group driven by technology and innovation; its core home appliance business would focus on a “number one strategy”, persist with long-term technology investment, advance IoT and digital transformation, and accelerate the intelligent upgrading of products and the improvement of its overall smart home business, while accelerating the layout of four core engines: robotics and automation, building technology, energy management and smart mobility.

According to the company’s 2022 letter to shareholders, in 2022 Midea firmly adhered to the operating principle of “reasonable revenue, recovering profitability”, advanced “refocusing” and “returning”, improved profitability, operated steadily and took new steps in its strategic layout. That year Midea rose to 245th on the Fortune Global 500 list, ranked 36th on the Brand Finance 2022 list of the world’s 100 most valuable technology brands, and was listed among Forbes China’s ESG inspiration cases as an ESG case company with practical reference value; by early 2023, the number of Midea factories awarded the World Economic Forum’s “Lighthouse Factory” title had reached five. The letter proposed persisting with breakthroughs in both ToC and ToB, using improvements in product strength and core technology in the ToC field to stabilise and enhance profitability and provide strategic support for the transformation of the ToB business; driving Midea’s breakthrough from a localised Chinese company into a global company, accelerating the layout and growth of overseas business and building global industrial chain capabilities; and advancing the shift from efficiency advantages to product advantages, technological advantages and innovation-driven growth. Midea’s operating principle for 2023 was set as stabilising profitability and driving growth, emphasising leaving the comfort zone, seeking new markets, new categories, new mechanisms and new growth points, stimulating entrepreneurship and building an internal community of entrepreneurs.

According to the company’s 2023 letter to shareholders, Midea’s total operating revenue that year reached 373.7 billion yuan, net profit reached 33.7 billion yuan and operating cash flow exceeded 57.9 billion yuan, and it ranked 278th on the Fortune Global 500 list. The letter stated that Midea’s operating priorities for 2024 were efficiency improvement across the entire value chain and structural growth upgrading, adhering to a DTC (Direct To Customer) strategy in the Chinese market and an OBM-first strategy overseas, and continuing to promote balanced development of its ToC and ToB businesses.

According to the company’s 2024 letter to shareholders, with “efficiency improvement across the entire value chain, structural growth upgrading” as its operating priority, Midea set a new record: total operating revenue of 409.1 billion yuan (of which the ToB business contributed 104.5 billion yuan), net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 38.5 billion yuan, and operating cash flow of 60.5 billion yuan. In 2024, Midea ranked 277th in the Fortune Global 500, having been on the list for nine consecutive years; it again appeared on Fortune’s China ESG Impact list and China’s Most Admired Companies list, and was named one of Forbes’ World’s Best Employers for the second consecutive year; in the same year, Midea successfully issued H shares and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the building of an A+H dual capital market platform would support its global breakthrough strategy. The letter recalled that Midea had grown from revenue of less than 10 billion yuan at the beginning of this century to more than 400 billion yuan, expanded from a single industry to multiple ToC and ToB industries, and moved from Shunde, China to a global footprint in research and development, production and sales. In 2025, Midea set its operating approach as “promoting growth through simplification, confronting challenges through self-disruption”.

According to the company’s 2025 letter to shareholders, Midea’s total operating revenue that year reached 458.5 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company 43.95 billion yuan, with both revenue and profit achieving double-digit growth and results hitting another record high. Overseas, revenue reached 195.9 billion yuan, up 16% year on year; its localised self-operated business had extended to the world’s 50 major countries, with 29 overseas R&D centers and 43 major overseas manufacturing bases, and the basic framework and system of its overseas layout had essentially taken shape; ToB business revenue was 122.8 billion yuan, up 17.5% year on year, and during the period it completed acquisitions including Arbonia, Toshiba Elevator’s China business and Carestream’s international business, essentially completing the framework of its ToB second curve. The letter summarised the 2025 operating environment as one of constantly changing tariffs, global adjustment of production capacity, the impact of the AI technology wave and intensifying geopolitical conflicts, and stated that the failure or decline of companies is universal, and that the ultimate capability of an enduring company is not growth but continual restarting or regeneration.

According to the company’s 2025 management discussion and analysis, Midea’s business covers fields such as smart home, industrial technology, building technology, robotics and automation, new energy, healthcare and smart logistics; it has more than 600 subsidiaries worldwide, as well as 41 R&D centers and 65 major manufacturing bases, more than 190,000 employees in total, and operations in more than 200 countries and regions. In new energy, its subsidiary Hiconics focuses on green energy solutions, household energy storage and photovoltaic inverters, and high-voltage frequency converters, while Clou Electronics focuses on smart grids and new electrochemical energy storage; its medical segment includes Wandong Medical and Carestream Health, Inc., the latter acquired in December 2025. The share of total revenue contributed by the commercial and industrial solutions business rose from 18.5% in 2020 to 26.8% in 2025, and its revenue exceeded 100 billion yuan in 2024.

Overseas, Midea completed its acquisition of TEKA in 2025 and advanced its “In Europe, for Europe” strategy, driving double-digit revenue growth in the European region; in the same year it merged the Italian Clivet air-conditioning business with the newly acquired ARBONIA Climate to form MBT Climate, and its Rayong factory in Thailand went into production, mainly supplying HVAC products to the North American market with an annual capacity of up to 600,000 units; Midea also reached a strategic cooperation with COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co., Ltd. and GLP to jointly build a green smart supply chain delivery center in Thailand.

Midea’s subsidiary KUKA is a world-renowned robot manufacturer. According to MIR Databank statistics, KUKA shipped more than 32,000 industrial robots in the domestic market in 2025, up more than 30% year on year, reaching a 9.6% share of market sales; as of the end of 2025, Midea’s robot density had reached 670 units per 10,000 workers. In building technology, its subsidiary Lingwang Elevator’s shipments in 2025 rose more than 40% year on year, and building technology aftermarket service revenue exceeded 2 billion yuan. In 2025, on the “2025 Global Top 250” list published by the US commercial patent database IFI Claims, Midea ranked fourth in the world and first among Chinese private companies by number of patent families.

The company’s 2025 letter to shareholders stated that in 2026 Midea would drive all-round reform with focusing on core growth and reducing complexity as its central approach: white goods and HVAC, as core businesses, would strive to be number one in the world, while secondary core businesses such as robotics and new energy would be firmly built up; it would adhere to cost leadership across the entire value chain and an OBM-first approach overseas, achieving a shift from “products going overseas” to “brands going overseas”; it would step up exploration of frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, embodied intelligence, new energy and healthcare; and it would push for an extremely flat organisation, shorten decision-making chains and implement a 24-hour response mechanism. The letter said that the ToC business is the moat for survival and development today, while the ToB business is the future guarantee for weathering cycles.