Air conditioner giant Daikin gets lift from coronavirus and climate change in Japan
Workers assemble split-type air conditioners on the production line of a Daikin Industries plant in Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, in August 2017. | BLOOMBERG. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
TOKYO, Jun 21, 2020, Bloomberg. Companies worldwide are beset by the very near-term threat of the coronavirus and the long-term specter of climate change. Air conditioning giant Daikin Industries Ltd. might be one of the few companies that stands to benefit from both, The Japan Times reported.
Nearing a market value of ¥5 trillion ($47 billion), the world’s largest maker of air conditioners is riding an almost uninterrupted eight-year streak that has seen its shares surge more than 700 percent. It’s now the 19th largest stock on the Topix and has also beat the broader index by 15 percentage points this year.
The streak is being helped by surging interest in ventilation. Suddenly, everyone wants to know how air conditioners work — and how they can help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. As Japan enters peak season for air conditioner installs, Daikin has been heavily advertising its latest model complete with the timely and unique ability to bring outside air indoors.
With the pandemic turning everyone in germophobes, many consumers have been surprised to learn that most air conditioners only circulate air indoors — heat, not air, is moved outside. Daikin’s Urusara X is different, with technology that allows it to bring in fresh air from outside. The company says it’s the only model with this ability.
“However, it doesn’t remove air indoors to the outside,” a Daikin spokesman cautions. He recommends using it in combination with periodically opening windows. Daikin, with an 18 percent share of the residential air conditioner market, has seen an increase in demand for the units, he said.
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