Dong Mingzhu "debates" with post-90s: I haven't heard of them being dissatisfied with the startup photos

You thought it was an oil painting, but it was actually an air conditioner.

After hitting the market ceiling, the air-conditioning industry, which was once considered to be "severely homogenized" and "extensive growth", has begun to emphasize innovation in products and services. Gree released the "Painting Era Air Conditioner" with a body of 11.2 cm; Chigo released the world record-breaking Smart King air conditioner with the most intelligent functions.

At the same time, the white goods industry, which lags behind the black goods industry in terms of intelligence, has been stepping up its efforts to embrace the Internet this year. This afternoon (22), Dong Mingzhu, chairman of the white goods leader Gree Electric Appliances of Zhuhai, talked about "Internet + Manufacturing" with a group of entrepreneurs born in the 1990s and 1980s at the China Manufacturing Summit Forum, showing Gree's strong interest in "+ Internet". At the same time, Chigo Air Conditioning released its smart cloud ecosystem and new smart air conditioners in Guangzhou. Prior to this, Haier and Midea both released their smart home strategies.

Dong Mingzhu "debates" with post-90s: I haven't heard of them being dissatisfied with the startup photos

“+Internet”: Not because of hitting the ceiling

Although home appliance companies have begun to return to offline channels for sales, they are still actively embracing the Internet at the company product and strategy level.

Chigo Air Conditioner released its "Smart Cloud + Ecosystem System" this afternoon, including "user big data + smart products + hardware modules + open platform", which can provide users with remote diagnosis and detection of "sub-health" problems of air conditioners. The system is linked to Chigo Smart Cloud Air Conditioner. Li Xinghao, Chairman and President of Chigo Group, said. Previously, the smart ecosystems of home appliance leaders such as Haier and Midea entered the industry with an open attitude.

However, unlike other white goods companies that have adopted the "Internet +" approach, Gree chose to connect through mobile phones. After discussing the topic of "Internet + Made in China" with the post-90s entrepreneurs, Dong Mingzhu accepted questions from the guests on the scene. The young guests raised many sharp questions about "Gree + Internet".

Since last year, the most talked about thing in the air-conditioning industry is "hitting the ceiling." Gree Electric's financial report for the first half of this year shows that operating income fell 13.4% year-on-year. Did Gree suddenly make a 90-degree turn to embrace the Internet because it encountered a ceiling? In this regard, Dong Mingzhu pointed out that with the economic downturn this year, companies are facing difficulties, and Gree is no exception. But Gree is not interested in the Internet because air conditioners have reached the ceiling. She believes that the younger generation grew up in an Internet environment. With the development of the times, the manufacturing industry must pay attention to those born in the 1980s and 1990s, so that companies can develop sustainably. Currently, more than 50% of Gree's middle-level cadres are born in the 1980s, and there are also two born in the 1980s at the senior management level. "I don't feel any resistance when getting along with those born in the 1980s and 1990s. On the contrary, I think they are very cute."

Regarding "why put Dong Mingzhu's personal photo on the boot screen", Dong Mingzhu said that the main intention of putting my photo on the boot screen is to express respect for consumers, not for consumers to appreciate.

Then, another guest asked, if more than a certain percentage of users want to change the boot photo, will Gree respect the user's opinion? In response, Dong Mingzhu said, "I haven't heard anyone say that the boot screen of this phone is not good, but someone told me, 'I want to change my photo to a better one.'" Previously, it was rumored that Gree's mobile phone would be embedded with 99 selfies of Dong Mingzhu and could not be deleted. "This is impossible. Why should you force consumers to appreciate your photos? This is disrespectful to consumers." Dong Mingzhu said.

Products: Emphasis on personalized innovation

Dong Mingzhu said that traditional industries cannot survive without the Internet, but the Internet is only a tool and manufacturing is still the cornerstone.

However, "Made in China" still cannot get rid of the label of "cheap and low quality" in the international market. Dong Mingzhu revealed that Gree Air Conditioner's customers in the Middle East gave feedback saying, "Your Gree is very good, but you should not use 'Made in China', but 'Made in Thailand'. "This sentence deeply hurt me," Dong Mingzhu called on every entrepreneur to take responsibility and have social responsibility to change the international image of "Made in China", "Stop doing sneaky things, stop making low-quality and low-priced products, Chinese products are looked down upon by others in the world because we do not have our own core technology."

Yang Dongwen, Chairman of Skyworth Group, pointed out that the air-conditioning industry is about to enter an era of overcapacity, which requires major innovation and reform. In contrast, Skyworth Air Conditioning has launched colorful air conditioners and round household central air conditioners for young people, breaking the previous monotony.

After the "war of words" with the post-90s generation, Dong Mingzhu also kept introducing four innovative products of Gree to the outside world. Among them, the entire panel of Gree's "Painting Era Air Conditioner" is an oil painting, the thickness of the body is 11.2 cm, and the air outlets of the air conditioner are at the upper and lower ends of the "painting board". Dong Mingzhu introduced to Nandu that the oil painting on the panel can be customized. We "brought a cold product to life. The oil painting on the air conditioner panel can be customized to be your family photos, wedding photos, etc."

Chigo's new product "Smart King Air Conditioner" has set a world record of "the world's smartest air conditioner" with 58 smart cloud air conditioning functions. In addition, Chigo has cooperated with China People's Property Insurance Company. From today, users who purchase Chigo air conditioners can receive a one-year "Chigo Guardian Star" PICC family property insurance with an insurance amount of up to 360,000 yuan. Mr. Chen Yufeng, the president of Chigo Air Conditioning Research Institute and the core engineer of global smart air conditioners, introduced that this series of air conditioners has "7 billion customization modes" and can be customized according to user needs; "air conditioners that can treat themselves" saves the traditional repair process.

"Since we joined hands with Jackie Chan at the end of 2014 to officially carry out high-end transformation with smart cloud air conditioners as the core, the proportion of high-end air conditioners such as smart cloud air conditioners has reached more than 30%. In the future, we will further promote the popularization of high-end products such as smart cloud air conditioners, and achieve the goal of returning to the top three in the industry by deepening the high-end transformation."