In 1968, He Xiangjian (Chinese: 何享健) founded the company, which produced bottle lids in Beijiao.

After its initial period of manufacturing bottle lids and car parts, the company focused on the manufacture of fully finished goods; specifically, electric fans beginning in 1980. Five years later, Midea produced its first air conditioner, a product which remains the core component of Midea's business today. Over the following 15 years though, the company gradually expanded into a wide variety of other electrical home appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, and microwave ovens.^{[9][non-primary source needed]}

In 1973, the subsidiary handling the core businesses of the company, known as "Guangdong Midea Electric", proceeded with a public offering of shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Guangdong Midea Electric's parent company, known today as "Midea Group", remained a privately held company at that time.

Midea opened its first overseas production facilities in 2007, in the Vietnam Industrial Park outside of Ho Chi Minh City. This would mark the beginning of a period of international expansion for the company. In 2008, Midea formed a manufacturing joint venture with Belarusian microwave producer Horizont [be; ru], in order to break into the various CIS markets.^{[9][non-primary source needed]}

2010 would see the first of several overseas joint ventures between Midea and American air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier Corporation. Their first joint venture is based in Cairo, Egypt, under the name of Miraco Carrier. The next year, Midea and Carrier continued on this course, forming a collection of closely networked joint venture companies in Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and another one separately in India.^{[9][non-primary source needed]}

In August 2012, the board of Midea Group announced that the company's founder, He Xiangjian, had resigned as Chairman. Guangdong Midea Electric Chairman and President Paul Fang was named as the new Chairman of Midea Group.^{[10][non-primary source needed]}

A restructuring plan was announced in April 2013.^[11] In September 2013, the whole entity was publicly listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as Midea Group. At the same time, Guangdong Midea Electric was privatized by Midea Group.^[12]

At the end of 2014, the Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi invested CN¥1.2 billion by acquiring 1.2% shares of Midea Group. A cooperation between the two companies was also announced at the same time.^[13]

In 2016, Midea made three major acquisitions, the first of which was Toshiba's home appliances business for US$477 million,^[14] followed by the even larger purchase of KUKA, the German robotics company.^[15][16] Lastly, acquiring Eureka, the brand that specializes in floorcare, from Electrolux AB in December.^[17]

In 2017, Midea became embroiled in a controversy involving millions of defective air conditioner/humidifier units made for many US brands. The incident involved lawsuits and allegations from US consumers that the company failed to honor its replacement obligations involving a recall it had issued.^[18][19]

In December 2018, Midea Group established its semiconductor subsidiary MR Semi Co. Ltd.^[20][21]

In 2022, the company launched its first major U.S. advertising campaign. The humorous campaign starred actor Sam Richardson of HBO's Veep as a fictional Chief Idea Officer who takes credit for all Midea products, calling them "My Ideas" and claiming to be "the man behind the best ideas, at the world's best appliance company."^{[22][23][24][25][26]}

In 2024, a sponsorship deal was struck between Midea and Sevilla FC. It will last until 2026.^[27]

Midea's main business is producing home appliances and commercial air conditioners; air conditioners accounted for CNY161.1 billion in 2023, over $20b USD, with other appliances accounting for CNY134.7 billion.^[28]

It sells products domestically under its own name, while the majority of its export business is as an OEM and ODM for many well-known global brands. In recent years, Midea has begun launching its own brand in a growing number of foreign markets, such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, India, Egypt, and most countries in Southeast Asia.^{[29][30][31][32][33]}

The company's main product category is air conditioners, both residential and commercial. It manufactures other major home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers. Midea also offers a wide range of smaller appliances, such as microwave ovens, kettles, water dispensers, and vacuum cleaners.^[34] It offers these products under its own brand, and manufactures them for sale under other brands (as an OEM), for example many microwaves are made by Midea, are internally similar but are sold under a multitude of different brands, with varying external designs.^[6] The same is true for some HVAC products such as air conditioners and dehumidifiers.^[18][19]

Beyond Midea's eponymous brand name, the company also employs a series of other brands. The Little Swan brand was adopted when Midea acquired the Little Swan company in 2008. Little Swan products are mostly laundry and refrigeration appliances. Hualing is a brand used by Midea for air conditioners and refrigerators, and was also adopted in 2008. MDV is one of the brands used by Midea for its line of commercial air conditioners, active since 1999. The Pelonis brand is used for heaters.

In 2021 the New York Times reported that most American microwave ovens are produced by Midea, including ovens sold by major brands such as Toshiba, Whirlpool, and Black+Decker.^[6]

Midea is also involved in manufacturing automotive parts — including electric water pumps, oil pumps, compressors and power steering motors — through its Welling subsidiary.^[35]

In 2020, major manufacturing competitors in China included Haier and Gree Electric Appliances; these top 3 comprised 80% of the sales of China's top 10.^[36] Samsung is another major competitor, especially for large appliances.^[37]

For home appliances, Haier was estimated to be the largest by revenue in 2022 at $35 billion.^[38]

During the last decade,^[when?] Midea has landed several high-profile projects, peaking with the most recent wins to install large-scale HVAC solutions in all the 12 stadiums for the Olympic games in Brazil in 2016,^[39][40][41] as well as 9 of 12 stadiums for the World Cup in Brazil in 2014.^[42][43]