On-site investigation into the rumors of appliance price hikes: prices have not yet been adjusted, but multiple salespeople all say "prices will go up next."

Why has the sales forecast for price increases due to rising home appliance costs not been implemented despite consistent predictions?

Recently, there have been reports that, influenced by multiple complex factors, the cost of home appliances has increased, including major brands such as Hisense, Haier, Midea, Siemens, TCL, Panasonic, and others. Starting from April, these brands will raise the prices of their products, covering categories such as air conditioners, refrigerators, TVs, and kitchen appliances. The overall industry increase ranges from 5% to 20%, with some Midea air conditioner models seeing a rise of up to 30%.

On April 7, a reporter from The Paper visited several home appliance stores in Shanghai as a consumer and communicated with sales staff from multiple brands to understand price details. No price hikes were observed yet, but these salespeople generally said, “Prices will go up soon,” with household appliances possibly increasing by about 10%. They also mentioned that new models have some new features, so consumers might not feel the difference very clearly.

At Suning Electric’s Wujiaochang store, the reporter found that there were still some promotional activities, combined with government subsidies, allowing consumers to enjoy significant discounts on home appliances.

A promotional staff member at TCL’s TV counter said that due to rising storage chip prices and other factors, TV prices are expected to increase by about 8%. A salesperson at Midea’s counter also stated that prices will rise, with high-end refrigerators possibly increasing by several thousand yuan. Her reason is that compressors inside refrigerators require a large amount of copper, and copper prices remain high. However, so far, Midea has not issued any price increase notices to offline stores.

Even for the kitchen appliances rumored to be the most aggressive in price hikes, no products have actually raised prices in stores. A salesperson from Boss Electric said that locking in current prices is the most cost-effective approach now; if prices rise in the future, there will be no need to make up the difference, and if prices fall, they will compensate the difference.

At Five Star Electric in Pudong, sales staff from various brands also echoed similar sentiments as Suning, with most saying that prices will go up soon.

A salesperson from Boss Electric stated that their internal promotional sales just ended, and now the products are no longer available at those prices. “The company’s prices have also increased by a few hundred yuan.”

However, these salespeople also admitted that they have not received any official price increase notices from their companies and emphasized that price hikes are industry-wide behaviors, not specific to any one brand.

The reporter also inquired with brands like Haier and Midea. A representative from Haier said there are no price increase plans for now; a person from Midea also stated they are unaware of any price hike actions.

Although most sales staff believe prices will rise soon, some hold different views.

A sales staff member at Suning’s Hisense TV promotion said they dismiss the rumors of price increases, believing that chip and display technology are proprietary and will not increase in price. A sales representative at Five Star’s Hisense store also thinks prices might go up later, but Hisense will soon have promotional activities, and products will have certain discounts. A Hitachi refrigerator salesperson said that the Chinese home appliance market is very competitive, and widespread price increases are difficult to implement.

The core reason for this round of price hikes is the sharp increase in raw material costs. Key raw materials such as copper, aluminum, plastics, and crude oil are all rising simultaneously, directly pushing up the production costs of air conditioners, refrigerators, and other white goods, with copper used extensively in air conditioners being most affected.

However, unlike other brands actively planning to raise prices, Gree, which has often taken a contrarian stance, recently publicly stated that it will not increase prices. Gree’s CMO Zhu Lei clearly stated: “Gree protects consumer interests—no price hikes, no downgrades, no tricks. Gree household air conditioners will definitely not increase in price.” This statement has made other brands cautious about raising prices.

Huachuang Securities recently reviewed the impact of this raw material price increase on home appliance companies’ performance. Huachuang Securities noted that rising copper and aluminum prices have driven the cost index upward, but the current increase is less than in previous cycles. They expect the impact on air conditioners to be more significant than on washing machines and refrigerators. The transmission of raw material costs to finished product prices typically lags by one quarter.

Using air conditioners as an example, Huachuang Securities estimates that in the second quarter, gross profit margins will decline by 8% to 11% year-on-year. If copper prices remain at current levels, profitability pressures for air conditioners are expected to gradually ease after the third quarter, with gross margins in the fourth quarter potentially narrowing to about 6%. If copper prices continue to rise, the pace of margin compression will slow, but due to the base effect, the decline in the fourth quarter could be within 10%.

Huachuang Securities also mentioned in their report that companies’ inventories can effectively smooth out upstream price increases’ impact on financial statements, meaning cost pressures will not immediately reflect in current performance. Among them, leading white goods companies have built thicker safety buffers thanks to more ample inventories. On the pricing front, the industry has already begun proactive responses. Starting from December 2025, manufacturers like Midea and AUX have gradually increased ex-factory prices by 2% to 12%. Retail data shows that online average prices have already recovered: the online industry average for air conditioners shifted from a -6% year-on-year decline in the first week to a +1% to +2% increase in the third to fifth weeks. If raw material prices stabilize in the future, this price increase for air conditioners may be sufficient to offset previous cost pressures.