They claim
“ONE IN THREE IS GREE
When in doubt, find strength in numbers – one of every three air conditioners in the world is made by Gree. More customers trust Gree than any other HVAC manufacturer in the world.”
GREE ELECTRIC APPLIANCES,INC.OF ZHUHAI
FAQ - Gree Frequently Asked Questions | Gree Comfort
“Yes, GREE Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai is the world largest air conditioner enterprise integrating Research & Development, manufacturing, marketing and services. GREE’s annual production capacity is 60 million residential air conditioning systems and 5 million commercial systems. GREE have 80,000 employees, 5,000 engineers on staff, located throughout their nine manufacturing facilities worldwide, based in China, Brazil, Pakistan and Vietnam. Gree products are sold into more than 100 countries worldwide including the United States.”
I was able to find the service manual.
The compressor is Misubishi KNB092FTAMC
Looking over the tech manual the 9K unit and the 12K unit have the exact same compressor.
Even the last part of the model number is the same except /0
It looks like they use the same outdoor unit for both the 12,000 BTU and the 9,000 BTU system.
Here are the parts list.
It looks like maybe they just drive the 12K unit harder than the 9K unit.
I guess that is how they make the 9K unit use less power.
I would think the 9k unit would last longer maybe?