Although there are no statistics, Daikin and Mitsubishi Electric are particularly popular among well-informed person, and I myself consider these two companies to be of particularly good quality.
Europe is the same when it comes to aircons. Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu as a cheaper option that's still good. Those three are more-or-less available throughout the region I live in (Balkans). Then you've got the lesser producers available: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Mitsubishi quality but less features), Toshiba (really good on the heating), Panasonic (solid but they've had some issues with the Ethereal series, poor temperature control electronics), Hitachi (cheaper option like Fujitsu). Below that come Samsung and LG and then the Chinese brands such as Midea, Gree, Hisense, AUX, Haier. Most people buy the Chinese units because they're the cheapest but those that can afford it always swear by Japan and Japanese quality.
