Haier

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Haier Group Corporation is a collective multinational consumer electronics and appliance company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including air conditioners, mobile phones, computers, microwave ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, and televisions.

According to data released by Euromonitor in 2014, the Haier brand has the world's largest market share in white goods, with a market share of retail volume of 10.2 percent. This is the sixth year in a row where Haier became the market share leader for major appliances.

Haier Group also consists of two registered subsidiaries: Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd. (SSE: 600690) and Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd. (SEHK: Ãƒ, 1169). It was announced that Qingdao Haier would also issue a "D-share" to trade at the European International Exchange China in Frankfurt.

Video Haier

History

The origins of Haier date back long before the establishment of the actual company. In the 1920s, a refrigerator factory was built in Qingdao to supply the Chinese market. After 1949 the founding of the People's Republic of China, the factory was later taken over and converted into a state-owned enterprise.

Establishment

Haier has been established as an Qingdao Refrigerator Co. in 1984. With China opening to the world market, foreign companies began to seek partnership in China. One of them, the German refrigerator company, Liebherr, signed a cooperation contract with Qingdao Refrigerator Co., offering technology and equipment to its Chinese counterpart. The refrigerator will be produced under the name Qindao-Liebherr (Simplified Chinese: ?? - ???? ; Traditional Chinese: ?? - ???? ; pinyin: Qindao-Libohaier ). The installation of Liebherr equipment and technology is accompanied by a new quality management process. In 1986, Qingdao Refrigerator has returned to profitability and an average sales growth of 83 percent per year. With sales of just CNY Ãƒ, Ã‚ Â¥ 3.5 million in 1984, sales skyrocketed to CNY Ãƒ, Ã‚ Â¥ 40.5 billion in 2000; growth over 11,500 times.

The city authorities asked him to take over some of the other tool makers in the ailing city. In 1988, the company took over Qingdao Electroplating Company (making microwaves) and in 1991 took over Qingdao Air Conditioner Factory and Freezer Qingdao and in 1995, took over the red star electronic Qingdao co., LTD , which has become a famous business case including by Harvard Business School.

Zhang Ruimin and corporate revival

In the 1980s, the factory had more debts than CNY Ãƒ, Ã‚ Â¥ 1.4 million and suffered due to dilapidated infrastructure, poor management, and lack of quality control, resulting from planned economic systems and relevant policies. Production is slowing, rarely exceeding 80 refrigerators per month, and the factory is almost bankrupt. The Qingdao government hired an assistant young city manager, Zhang Ruimin, who was in charge of a number of city-owned equipment companies. Zhang was appointed factory managing director in 1984.

When he arrived in 1984, Zhang decided that improvements were needed for factory quality control.

In 1985, a customer brought a broken refrigerator to the factory and showed it to Zhang. Zhang and the customers then checked his inventory of as many as 400 refrigerators to find a replacement. In the process he found that there was a 20 percent failure rate in his wares. To emphasize the importance of product quality, Zhang has 76 dud refrigerators that line up on the factory floor. He then distributed a sledgehammer to the employees and ordered them to destroy the refrigerator. Workers hesitate; the cost of the refrigerator at that time was about two years of wages. Seeing their affliction, Zhang said: "Destroy them! If we sell these 76 refrigerators for sale, we will continue to make mistakes that have all made our company bankrupt." The fridge was broken. One of the hammers used was on display at headquarters as a reminder for posterity.

Brand

After diversifying its product line outside the refrigerator, the company adopted a new name in 1991. Borrowing from the German name of its partner, "Haier " comes from the last two syllables of the Chinese transliteration of Liebherr (pronounced "Li- bo-hai-er "). Qingdao Haier Group was further simplified in 1992 to Haier Group , the current company name.

In 1995, Haier bought its main rival in Qingdao, Red Star Electrical Appliance Factory . In 1997, the company moved into television manufacturing with the acquisition of Huangshan Electronics Group . In the late 1990s, Haier sold many products including; cell phones and computers, and has the largest national market share in the core whiteboard division.

International expansion

The company opened production facilities in Indonesia in 1996, and the Philippines and Malaysia in 1997. The company tried to compete in the Thai market, but they completely lost the local electronics company and had to stop marketing there. In the US it is focused on two niche markets in the compact fridge and an electric wine cellar.

Haier started producing full-sized refrigerators for the North American market. This will lead him into direct competition with American companies founded by GE, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, and Maytag. As part of its strategy, Haier built a production facility in the United States in Camden, South Carolina, opened in 2000. In 2002, US revenues reached USD $ 200 million, still small compared to its total revenues of $ 7 billion. Also in 2002, Haier moved to a building in downtown Manhattan. Formerly the headquarters for the Greenwich Savings Bank, the 52,000 square foot building (4,800m ²) was built in 1924 in neo-classical style.

The production facility was built in Pakistan in 2002 (see Haier Pakistan) and Jordan in 2003. In Africa, Haier has factories in five countries: Tunisia, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa. The company also purchased the Meneghetti plant in Italy and began placing its products in European retail chains, either under its own brand or under OEM agreements with foreign partners. Currently Haier has signed a joint venture agreement with the Venezuelan government.

Haier Appliances (India) P. Ltd. started its commercial operations in January 2004. Its head office is in New Delhi, and by 2015 has 33 operations, including in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. It is listed among the 20 most trusted brands in India by The Brand Trust Report, a study conducted by the Trust Research Advisor.

In June 2005, Haier made a bid to acquire Maytag Corporation, backed by private equity funds Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. The offer for USD $ 1.28 billion, or $ 16 per share, surpassed the previous bid of $ 14.26 per share made by Ripplewood Holdings. In the end, however, Maytag was purchased by Michigan-based Whirlpool Corporation that offered $ 1.7 billion in cash and stock, or $ 21 per share, plus assumed debt.

In 2008, Haier has surpassed rival Whirlpool as the world's top refrigerator manufacturer in terms of sales, according to Euromonitor, an independent business intelligence provider. Haier said it sold 12 million refrigerators worldwide, up 20% over the previous year. Its market share reaches 6.3% globally.

In 2012, Haier Group bought New Zealand equipment manufacturing firm Fisher & Paykel.

In January 2016, Haier Group acquired General Electric's equipment division for $ 5.4 billion.

Criticism and controversy

In 2014, Haier was accused by German media of providing smart phones and tablets with pre-installed malware.

Maps Haier

Ownership structure

Although under partial public ownership, Haier is still technically a "collective" company, meaning that it should be owned by its employees. However, the actual ownership situation is unclear; employees do not receive dividends and do not know how much they have in reality. Interference from officials is also a risk to state-owned enterprises such as Haier. Different levels of government often try to encourage their sick companies to succeed, often resulting in failure; Haier once spoke to acquire a pharmaceutical company, despite not having previous experience or infrastructure in biotechnology.

As a government entity, Haier is also officially banned from entering the stock market from an early age. However, companies need funds for expansion and therefore look for loopholes to access private equity. In 1993, the company registered a subsidiary of Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co. on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, collecting CNY Ãƒ, Ã‚ Â¥ 370 million. In 2005, Haier entered the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through a "backdoor list" by acquiring a controlling stake in a Haier-CCT Holdings Ltd. listed joint venture. (SEHK: Ãƒ, 1169). Haier is also the index of China's Dow Jones 88 Index.