Air conditioning

- Domestic and export sales of Chinese air conditioners set new records in the 2004 refrigeration year (September 2003-August 2004). Sales on the domestic market reached 26 million units and exports reached 25 million units. Export sales were up 52% compared with the previous year, mostly due to increased production in China by companies based abroad. The boom induced temporary shortages of compressors and environmentally friendly refrigerants. The leading manufacturers for the domestic market are Gree, Midea and Haier, each of which sold over 3 million units, followed by Kelon, Aux, Chigo, LG,Matsushita, Shinco and Hisense. (Source: JARN, February, 2005.) - According to a study carried out by Eurovent, Europe will have 2200 million m² of air-conditioned space by 2010 and 800 million m² of this will be over 15 years old and in need of replacement, creating a niche for growth in this sector. A major influence on the market will be the new EU Directive on Energy Efficiency which also includes standards on air conditioning equipment.(Source: Eurovent/Cecomaf Review, France) - Sales of air-conditioning units soared inFrance in 2004. Clim'Info reports that overall sales almost doubled in 2004 compared with 2003. Sales of units with a capacity of less than 17.5 kW expanded the most. Sales of mobile units rose 150% in 2004, reaching a level of 150 000, and sales of monosplit and multisplit units rose 95% and 105% respectively and 80% of split systems sold were reversible. Split systems using inverter (variable-capacity) technology accounted for 42% of all split system sales in 2004, compared with 35% in 2003 and 27% in 2002.