Posted on 30 Apr 2026
China’s scheduled production of the three most popular home appliances – air-conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines – is projected to reach 36.11 million units in May, down by a small 1.4% from actual output in May 2025, according to the latest report released by ChinaIOL.com, a domestic information provider tracking China’s home appliance and refrigeration industries.
Specifically, next month's scheduled output of both air-conditioners and washing machines is forecast to be lower on-year, with air-conditioner output seen falling 2.6% to 20.28 million units, while production of washing machines is likely to drop 1.7% to 7.27 million units. Scheduled production of refrigerators, meanwhile, is expected to rise modestly by 1.9% on year to 8.56 million units.
ChinaIOL cites several factors it considered when making its forecast.
The country's sluggish property market, the fading effect of subsidies and the subdued appetite for consumption have caused domestic demand for home appliances to remain tepid so far this year.
This, coupled with surging raw material costs such as those for plastics amid Mid-East tensions, and the appliance makers' elevated inventories at their factories and in dealers' warehouses, have forced the makers to control their production to reduce related risks, as reported.
Meanwhile, strengthening regulations relating to integrated circuits introduced by the United States with the roll-out of the Chip Security Act and Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware Act on March 26 and April 2 have also choked supplies of core chips such as MCUs. This in turn is restricting the production capacity of high-end home appliances and in the long run will accelerate the substitution of imported chips with those made domestically, ChinaIOL observes.
As rising production costs continue to squeeze the appliance makers' profit margins, many manufacturers at this year's China Import and Export Fair being held in Guangzhou until May 5 are proposing increases in their selling prices to overseas dealers of 5%~10%, ChinaIOL indicates. However, with global demand displaying no obvious improvement and competition for export orders growing even fiercer, foreign buyers are generally showing limited acceptance of any broad-based increase in procurement prices, the provider notes.
To avoid shipping volatility and potential tariff barriers, China's appliance makers are also speeding up offshore expansions. China's leading home appliance maker Haier has commissioned its largest overseas air conditioner manufacturing base in Chonburi in eastern Thailand, as reported. The appliance giant also plans to invest more than $30 million this year in Thailand to expand its nationwide network and accelerate AI smart-home ecosystems, according to local reports.
Source:Mysteel Global
