澎湃 News reporter Zhou Ling
Vision China Picture
At the key point in the preparation of the new refrigeration year for air-conditioning companies, Hebei, one of the important markets of Gree Electric Appliances, suffered a change.
It is reported that Gree Electric’s distributor in Hebei, Hebei Xinxing Gree Electric Sales Co., Ltd. (Hebei Gree) issued a notice on August 18, saying that on August 16, Gree Electric suddenly stopped delivering the Hebei Gree and requested that the payment be made. The dealers make plans and pick up the goods as soon as possible.
Just four days after Gree Electric stopped supplying Hebei Gree , on August 20 Xu Zifa, chairman of Hebei Xinxing Gree Electric Sales Co., Ltd., hosted a banquet for mainstream dealers in the province at a five-star hotel in Shijiazhuang, and announced at the meeting: Withdraw from Gree's operation today and quit Gree! At the same time, he promised to give everyone a reassurance that the dealer's payment, rebates, and maintenance fees will be honored for everyone.
According to 澎湃News reporter learned from people familiar with the matter, the details of "drinking Moutai for 15 years that night, and 10 people at each table distributed 100,000 cash" are true. Xu Zifa also expressed his gratitude to the dealers for their support for so many years.
On August 23, a reporter from The Paper called Gree, Hebei, and the staff who answered the phone said that "there is no obligation to answer whether the company will continue to sell Gree air conditioners and ", "If you want to buy Gree air conditioners, the market is full of them".
Gree Electric also chose to deal with this matter coldly. As of the press time of The Paper, Gree Electric has not responded positively to this matter.
However, The Paper learned from a number of people in the home appliance industry that Gree Electric did have a complete falling out with Hebei Gree. Next, Gree Electric will reorganize its distribution channels in Hebei.
According to media reports, after Gree stopped supplying to Hebei General Distributor, Gree Zhuhai headquarters sent a marketing team of 50 people to Hebei to bypass the original Gree Hebei General Distributor and contact local agents. The Paper reporter also learned from insiders that the situation is basically true.
Hebei Gree's strength should not be underestimated.
Hebei Xinxing Gree Electric Appliances Sales Co., Ltd. is one of the most powerful distributors of Gree Electric Appliances in China. Jinghai Internet Technology Development Co., Ltd. (Jinghai Internet), established by Hebei Gree and more than ten Gree Electric Appliances distributors, is an important shareholder of Gree Electric Appliances. As of the first quarter of this year, Jinghai Internet holds 8.34% of Gree Electric's shares , ranking the third largest shareholder.
Tianyan check information shows that Hebei Gree indirectly holds 28% of the shareholders of Jinghai Internet, and is also the largest shareholder of Jinghai Internet.
However, on June 24 this year, Gree Electric announced that it received the "Share Reduction Notification Letter" from Tokyo Hailian, which holds more than 5% of 's shares. Jinghai Internet passed the block transaction on June 24, 2022. The method is to reduce the company's shares by 110,219,217 shares, accounting for 1.86% of Gree Electric's total share capital, and cash out 3.5 billion yuan. After the reduction, Jinghai Internet's shareholding ratio dropped to 6.47%.
More importantly, as the main distributor of Gree Electric Appliances, Xu Zifa is also an investor in Philips air conditioners, which may be one of the reasons for the stalemate between the two parties.
On August 9 this year, at the new product launch conference held by Philips Air Conditioning, the former Gree Electric Appliances executive president Huang Hui appeared as the chairman of Philips Air Conditioning, and the former Gree Electric President Assistant Hu Wenfeng became the president of Philips Air Conditioning. Attend the meeting as a shareholder representative of Philips Air Conditioning.
The former general of Gree turned around and became a competitor of Gree, which obviously angered Gree.
Senior home appliance observer Liu BuchenIn an interview with The Paper reporter, Gree Electric must be very dissatisfied with Hebei Gree’s practice. Before Gree Electric asked dealers to choose one of the two. If they want to represent Gree, they cannot represent Philips .
"Hebei Gree has both active and passive factors in doing this. Passive factors Gree Electric Appliances has promoted channel transformation in recent years, and the proportion of online sales has become higher and higher. The interests of traditional dealers have been affected and they are forced to seek new outlets; but investment Philips must be the active choice of Hebei Gree, considering so many years of experience and resources, to do Philips air conditioning commissioning." Liu Buchen said that he is not optimistic about the future prospects of Philips air conditioners, and it will not pose a threat to Gree.
However, Liu Buchen believes that it will take time for Gree to replace the Hebei channel this time, and it also needs to find suitable candidates.It may have a certain negative impact on Gree's local sales.
However, the Hebei dealer incident did not bring much pressure to Gree Electric’s stock price . On August 23, Gree Electric closed at 30.23 yuan, a decrease of 0.85%. The total market value of Gree Electric Appliances is 170.2 billion yuan.
Editor in charge: Sun Fu Picture editor: Shi Jiahui