Daikin Industries and Gree Electric Appliances have agreed that Daikin will commission Gree to manufacture 500,000 small inverter air conditioners, which Daikin will market in Japan in 2009. The two companies have also agreed to study four other areas of collaboration including joint development of residential air conditioners and joint procurement for such products for the Global market.

Daikin will plan and develop the products, Gree will manufacture for Daikin, and the products will carry the Daikin brand. Gree will establish a dedicated production line with special inspection equipment for Daikin products to assure product quality meeting Daikin’s standard. With tighter environmental regulations being enacted worldwide in the global market, the inverter technology developed by Japanese manufacturers to improve energy efficiency is attracting keen interest. By variable control of motor rotation, inverter air conditioners can reduce power consumption by 30% compared with ordinary air conditioners. Replacing the non-inverter air conditioners currently in use around the world with inverter units can significantly reduce power consumption by air conditioners, which accounts for about 30% of CO2 emissions from homes.

Daikin has the world’s No. 1 share in the inverter air conditioner market, while Gree is the world leader in non-inverter air conditioners. Their collaboration will help them expand the world market for inverter air conditioners and lead the global air conditioning industry’s environmental protection efforts, reveals the company’s press release. Combining Daikin’s advanced energy saving technology and Gree’s strength in materials and parts procurement and production, the two companies aim to produce high-efficiency, low-cost inverter air conditioners to open up new markets in areas where penetration of inverter air conditioners is low.