On January 14th, Philips air conditioners launched a 12 year warranty policy, which sparked heated discussions. Public information shows that Philips air conditioners claim that household users who purchase designated models enjoy "12 year free replacement and 12 year free warranty services". This policy has exceeded Gree's previous commitment to a ten-year warranty. However, a Beijing Business Daily reporter found that this favorable policy is not only "invisible" on the official website, but also on third-party platforms such as Taobao, The statements of official stores and dealers are also inconsistent, and more importantly, the difference between "warranty" and "warranty repair" leads to a significant difference in the services consumers receive.
From an industry perspective, Philips air conditioners today find it difficult to compete with top brands, and Philips has actively adjusted its product line, breaking away from the competition in the air conditioning industry and shifting to advantageous areas such as electric toothbrushes and electric shavers.
The disappearing air conditioner
For Philips air conditioning's 12 year warranty policy, Beijing Business Daily reporters have seen multiple related advertisements on platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu. Strangely, on Philips' official website, this policy has disappeared without a trace. The reporter saw on its official website that Philips's home appliances include coffee machines, kitchen appliances, floor cleaning, air handling, clothing care, and other products, with a warranty period of generally 24 months. The complete machine warranty for floor cleaning products is 24 months, and the motor warranty is 36 months, rather than a 12 year warranty.
After clicking on the specific air conditioning product to enter its page, the reporter did not see the words "12 year warranty". The warranty period of Philips household air conditioners is mostly marked as 6 years. For example, the "warranty policy" column of Noble Series new level variable frequency wall mounted fresh air conditioners and Classic Series new level variable frequency wall mounted air conditioners are all prominently marked with the words "6 years for the entire machine".
The reporter dialed the official website of Philips and found out that the 12-year warranty period rumored online was indeed true. The staff also stated that this policy was not formulated solely by the dealer, and consumers can enjoy this benefit regardless of the channel they purchase from. However, the staff member also stated that the 12-year warranty is only a phased event, and only those who purchase Philips air conditioners can enjoy this policy from January 10th to March 10th. For other questions asked by the reporter, the other party stated that they are only after sales at Philips headquarters and are not clear about it.
This policy that benefits consumers is not only taboo on the official website, but also varies among different merchants on third-party shopping platforms. When the reporter entered the "Philips Official Flagship Store" on Taobao, he found that the wall mounted air conditioning products that appeared on the official website disappeared here. Similar to it were only multiple air conditioning fan products. The customer service of the store told the reporter that the warranty policy for air conditioning fan products is to replace and repair them within two years, If the product exceeds two years, the service will not be available, and the customer service representative explicitly states that Philips air conditioning fans are not considered air conditioners.
The air conditioners that disappeared from the official store seem to have all gone to the dealers. On Taobao, there are multiple air conditioning products in the "Beijing Philips Enterprise Store". The customer service of the store told reporters that they are a Philips distributor in the Beijing area, and all the air conditioners displayed in the store are in stock. Regarding the 12 year warranty policy, the customer service statement is consistent with the after-sales service on the official website, stating that this is only a period of activities from January 10th to March 10th.
Why is it still holding onto the pipa and half covering the face, even though it is a promotional policy that can both benefit consumers and promote businesses? Regarding this, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily contacted Philips (China) Investment Co., Ltd. for an interview, but as of the time of publication, no response has been received.
One word difference
More importantly, the reporter saw on Philips' official website that its air conditioning products are basically "warranty" rather than "warranty", although only a word difference, the meaning is completely different.
The reporter also interviewed lawyers on this issue. Lawyer Zheng Qiuyun, a partner of Deheng Law Firm, stated that "warranty repair" refers to the completely free service provided by the manufacturer during the validity period of the three guarantees, except for intentional or obvious improper use, in case of product quality problems. The so-called three guarantees refer to warranty repair, return, and replacement. However, the warranty is different. For example, the so-called 6-year warranty generally refers to the repair service provided by the manufacturer during the 6-year period if there are quality problems with the product, but it is not completely free and generally does not support returns or exchanges.
The lawyer pointed out that the "package" of warranty repair implies a sense of overall responsibility. For manufacturers, the responsibility for warranty repair is obviously heavier than that of warranty. If it is a warranty service, when the product parts naturally age and need to be replaced, the manufacturer also has the right to claim product and service fees.
As for whether Philips air conditioners are guaranteed for 12 years or under warranty, in the conversation between the reporter and the official staff, the staff did not seem to clearly distinguish between the two concepts. As for whether the maintenance behavior within 12 years should be borne by the user, the staff said that if it is not artificially damaged, the product will naturally age within 12 years. Philips can repair it if it can, and if it cannot be repaired, a new unit will be replaced for free.
The staff stated that the repair technician is assigned by the local distributor, not the headquarters. However, if consumers suspect that the service personnel are charging arbitrarily, they can contact Philips headquarters to report the situation.
As for air conditioning cleaning, fluorine addition and other services, the staff said they are not free, which is not a quality issue. At the same time, the staff also said that the specific repair policy needs to be consulted with the local dealer.
In the view of industry experts, although some companies use non-standard terms for warranty and repair, free maintenance and replacement are not difficult for them in market practice.
Industry Observer General Ding analyzed to Beijing Business Daily reporters that qualified air conditioning products can be used for more than a decade or even decades, and the probability of quality problems during this period is not high. For enterprises, even free exchanges are not a problem, especially well-known brand air conditioners have a huge production volume and are evenly distributed on each product, and the cost of returns and exchanges can be almost negligible. However, in terms of marketing, slogans like a 10-year warranty are very attractive, demonstrating manufacturers' confidence in their products and helping to establish a high-end image of the brand.
Farewell White Electric
Anyway, the promotion of a 12 year warranty has brought Philips air conditioning back to the public eye once again. Although it is widely recognized in personal care small appliances such as electric shavers and electric toothbrushes, Philips is difficult to compete with many domestic brands in the air conditioning and even the entire white goods market.
For a long time, the top five air conditioning brands have been Gree, Midea, Haier, AUX, and TCL. Based on statistical data from various institutions, Gree and Midea are both dominant, with domestic market share of around 30%. Haier's market share is slightly lower, about 10%, while AUX and TCL's market share is about 4-6%. In addition to traditional and well-established home appliances, emerging enterprises including Xiaomi have also entered the air conditioning industry and gained a foothold through their AIoT layout.
Philips has also been involved in white electricity, but under competitive pressure, the company proactively adjusted its product line. In March 2021, Philips announced the sale of its home appliance business to Hillhouse Capital for a transaction amount of approximately 3.7 billion euros, which is also a major shareholder of Gree Electric.
Senior brand expert Xing Zitao believes that traditional home appliance business was no longer a growth point but a burden for Philips at that time. Not only was there a gap in product competitiveness compared to peers, but traditional home appliances also failed to open up new growth opportunities for Philips in terms of profitability.
In the opinion of experts, for Philips, the air conditioning business has clearly become out of sync with other lines. Philips almost enjoys a dominant position in the field of electric shavers, while electric toothbrushes are a rapidly growing emerging track, and Philips also has obvious advantages in this regard.
Philips, which was born in the late 19th century and started with lighting fixtures, has been around for more than a century now. This old European brand seems to be more willing to combine technology and health as a new promotional point. In addition to electric toothbrushes and shavers, even health kettles have appeared on its official website, while air conditioning seems to have become a thing of the past.