The portable Midea Portasplit air conditioner is currently very popular: it can also be used in rental apartments, requires no specialist technician for installation, and can easily be stored in the basement during winter. The device has been practically sold out since June; resellers are now trading it at exorbitant prices. But relief is on the way: manufacturer Midea produces 6,000 units a day and has already shipped 50 containers to a summer-ready Europe.
According to the Chinese news portal ITHome, Midea has doubled its production capacity at its Guangzhou plant to up to 6,000 units daily after receiving a large order for 160,000 Portasplit units. The capacity increase was carried out in record time, even involving the transport of spare parts from other production sites via high-speed rail and air freight.
Since July 8, Midea has already shipped more than 50 containers of Portasplit units, most of them by freight train and cargo ship, according to warehouse manager Cai Xiongwei. However, when the devices will appear in German DIY and electronics stores is just as uncertain as the actual quantity intended for the German market.
Beware of resellers and profiteers
For those suffering from the heat, it is therefore particularly worthwhile to check out heise's own offers such as bestell.bar or Geizhals to get a device at the best possible price. This will likely still be higher than last November. At that time, the Midea Portasplit with 12,000 BTU was temporarily available for under 700 euros; currently, you pay about double that.
