Haier adds fuel to the embedded refrigerator market

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Liu Baodan

For many Chinese families, the first refrigerator is often Haier. In the blink of an eye, Haier has been around for forty years. Although more refrigerator brands have entered the market, Haier refrigerators have firmly maintained their position as the market leader.

However, in the face of a mature and increasingly competitive market for refrigerators, it is not easy to remain number one or even further increase market share. This requires Haier to continuously dig deep into user needs and drive consumption upgrades with innovative products.

Against this backdrop, on November 7th, the 2025 Haier Refrigeration Industry Ecosystem Co-Creation Conference was uniquely held at the Haier Shanghe Refrigerator Internet Factory. While showcasing advanced manufacturing, Haier shifted its focus from policy discussions to products and experiences, simultaneously launching two new series: Haier Milan Refrigerator and Haier Mai Lang Refrigerator.

In addition to the core capability of freshness that users care about, "embedded" has also unsurprisingly become a key focus of this new product launch by Haier.

It is reported that both the Haier Milan Refrigerator and the Haier Mai Lang Refrigerator series feature the original 594mm ultra-thin zero-embedded technology, reserving a 6mm scientific error to achieve the aesthetic experience of "leaving only space, not gaps."

In the past two years, embedded refrigerators that can be integrated with cabinets or sideboards have rapidly gained popularity in the market, roughly divided into pure flat full-embedded, ultra-thin full-embedded, flat-embedded, zero-embedded, and free embedded types. This market has attracted competition from both domestic and foreign companies, including Haier, Midea, Hisense, Meiling, as well as TCL, Xiaomi, Whirlpool, Bosch Siemens, and Panasonic.

According to Jia Shi Consulting, past embedded refrigerators were mostly free embedded, requiring a 2cm gap beside the body, resulting in dead corners and poor fit with cabinets, limiting aesthetics. In 2023, zero flat-embedded products were concentrated in the market, optimizing the aesthetic experience of embedded refrigerators.

Moreover, the overall average price in the refrigerator industry is generally around 3,000 yuan, but the average price of embedded refrigerators is basically around 7,000 yuan, creating a significant price gap that allows for considerable average price increases in the industry.

The refrigerator industry has entered a new phase dominated by structural upgrades, and embedded refrigerators are typical structural adjustment products, becoming a "strategic lever" for mainstream brands in the refrigerator industry to adjust their structures.

This year, the market penetration rate of embedded refrigerators has also rapidly increased, even becoming the category with the largest sales growth in the refrigerator market.

Data from Aowei Cloud Network shows that in the first half of 2024, the retail volume share of embedded refrigerators in the online market was 12.4%, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%; in the offline market, the retail volume share of embedded refrigerators was 37.8%, a year-on-year increase of 19.5%.

At the same time, in weeks 1-34 of this year, while the overall year-on-year growth of refrigerators online was only 1% and offline decreased by 11.7%, the online retail volume of flat-embedded refrigerators increased by 223.4% year-on-year, and offline increased by 334%; in weeks 35-38, driven by the "old-for-new" policy, the online retail volume of flat-embedded refrigerators increased by 447.8% year-on-year, and offline increased by 71.8% Clearly, in the context of the refrigerator industry entering a phase of stock competition, embedded refrigerators have become an important breakthrough point for refrigerator brands seeking growth.

After 40 years of development, refrigerators have always been an important business segment for Haier. In the first half of this year, Haier's listed home appliance company, Haier Smart Home, reported total revenue of 135.623 billion yuan, with global revenue from the refrigeration business reaching 41.128 billion yuan, accounting for approximately 30.3% of total revenue.

In the first three quarters of this year, Haier Smart Home's operating revenue was 202.971 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.2%; net profit attributable to the parent company was 15.154 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%.

Although the third-quarter financial report did not disclose the revenue from the refrigeration business, Haier Smart Home pointed out that in the third quarter, it actively seized opportunities for trade-ins, fully leveraged its advantages in high-end brands, a full range of products, and multi-channel layouts to drive retail growth: terminal retail improved month by month in the third quarter, with the retail growth of Casarte exceeding the overall level.

As Haier's high-end brand, Casarte has also been continuously focusing on embedded refrigerators, launching an original product—the Flat Embedded Series 600/601 refrigerator in the first half of the year, which drove a year-on-year sales increase of 98% for the flat embedded refrigerator series.

Of course, how to continue to lead in the fierce market competition remains a test for Haier.

An industry insider told Wall Street Journal that compared to other refrigerator products, embedded refrigerators do not have significant revolutionary technological innovations, mainly involving the modification of the refrigerator door hinge structure, as well as the integration of panel materials and industrial design structures.

Currently, the general technology in the industry has become relatively mature and stable, and the embedded refrigerator market has begun to show signs of price competition. To gain more consumer favor, it is essential to focus on personalization and differentiation while adhering to the upgrade of preservation technology.

Being closer to users and understanding their pain points is the key to truly leading the new trend of embedded refrigerators