Gree Electric Appliances has led the global household air-conditioner market for 14 consecutive years, states a Japanese analytical service, earning a 20.6 percent share in 2018 and outstripping second-ranked Midea Group by nearly 6 percentage-points.

The Survey of Market Share for Major Global Goods & Services was recently released by Japan financial newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun. It had analyzed the market share of 74 commodity varieties based on data from authoritative research institutions.

The success of the Zhuhai-based household appliance giant is said to be closely tied to its consistent pursuit of core technology through independent innovation.

Gree air-conditioners

In addition to an R&D staff of 12,000, Gree owns 15 research academies, 94 research institutions, 929 laboratories, and two academician workstations. Gree has a State Key Laboratory, National Engineering Technology Research Center, National Industrial Design Center, National-recognized Enterprise Technical Center, and Robot Engineering Technology R&D Center.

The company is now master of 24 international leading technologies and has applied for 51,664 patents. It was rated 6th nationwide and 1st in the household appliance industry in patent numbers by the National Intellectual Property Administration in 2018.

Gree's business has spread all over the world [File photos]

To date, its products have been sold in more than 160 countries and regions, reaching over 400 million users worldwide. The company ranks 294th in the Forbes 2018 Global 2000 list of the world's biggest listed enterprises.

Domestically, Gree-made central air-conditioners lead for the seventh consecutive year, according to the Report on Development of the China Central Air-Conditioning Market 2018 released by HVACR News.

The company made 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) in total operating revenue last year, a year-on-year increase of 33.33 percent.