Haier

Haier Group Corporation (/ˈhaɪ.ər/)[2] is a

Chinese multinational home appliances
and consumer electronics company
headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. It
designs, develops, manufactures and
sells products including refrigerators, air
conditioners, washing machines, dryers,
microwave ovens, mobile phones,
computers, and televisions. The home
appliances business, namely Haier Smart
Home, has seven global brands – Haier,
Casarte, Leader, GE Appliances, Fisher &
Paykel, Aqua and Candy.
 Haier Group Corporation

Headquarters in Qingdao, Shandong

Native name 海尔集团公司

Type Collective enterprise

Traded as SSE: 600690 (http://e

nglish.sse.com.cn/m
arkets/equities/list/o
verview/?COMPANY_
CODE=600690&STO
CK_CODE=600690)
SEHK: 1169 (https://
www.hkex.com.hk/M
arket-Data/Securities
-Prices/Equities/Equi
 ties-Quote?sym=116
9&sc_lang=en)
FWB: HC7B (https://
www.boerse-frankfur
t.de/global-search/H
C7B)
Industry Home appliances
Consumer
electronics
Founded 1984

Headquarters Qingdao, Shandong,

China
Area served Worldwide

Key people Zhang Ruimin

(Chairman & CEO)
Liang Haishan
(Rotating President)
Zhou Yunjie
(Rotating President)
Products Major appliances
Small appliances
Commercial heating
and cooling systems
Consumer
electronics
Revenue CN¥227.5 billion
(2021)[1]
Operating income CN¥15.91 billion
(2021)[1]
Net income CN¥13.21 billion
(2021)[1]
Total assets CN¥217.5 billion
(2021)[1]
Total equity CN¥81.0 billion
(2021)[1]
Number of 109,586 (2021)[1]
employees

Subsidiaries GE Appliances (U.S.)

majority 90%
 Hotpoint (U.S.)
Hoover (Europe)
Candy
Fisher & Paykel
Sanyo (South East
Asia)
Website haier.com (http://hai
er.com)

Haier

Simplified Chinese 海尔

Traditional Chinese 海爾

Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin

Hanyu Pinyin Hǎi'ěr

According to data released by
Euromonitor,[3] Haier was the number one
brand globally in major appliances for 10
consecutive years from 2009 to 2018.
The Haier brand was also recognized by
BrandZ in 2019[4] as the most valuable
IoT ecosystem brand in the world with a
brand value of $16.3 billion. In 2019,
Haier Smart Home ranked 448 on
Fortune's Global 500 list with a revenue
of $27.7 billion.

Haier Group also consisted of two listed

subsidiaries in three exchanges: Haier
Smart Home (SSE: 600690 (http://englis
h.sse.com.cn/markets/equities/list/over
view/?COMPANY_CODE=600690&STOCK
_CODE=600690) ; ex-Qingdao Haier Co.,
Ltd.), Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd.
(SEHK: 1169 (https://www.hkex.com.hk/
Market-Data/Securities-Prices/Equities/E
quities-Quote?sym=1169&sc_lang=en) ),
and "D-share" listing of Haier Smart
Home in China Europe International
Exchange of Frankfurt.[5]

History
The origins of Haier date back long
before the actual founding of the
company. In the 1920s, a refrigerator
factory was built in Qingdao to supply the
Chinese market. After the 1949
establishment of the People's Republic of
China, the factory was then taken over
and turned into a state-owned
enterprise.[6]

By the 1980s, the factory had a debt of

over CN¥1.4 million and suffered from
dilapidated infrastructure, poor
management, and lack of quality
controls, resulting from the planned
economic system and relevant policies.[7]
Production had slowed, rarely surpassing
80 refrigerators a month, and the factory
was close to bankruptcy. The Qingdao
government hired a young assistant city-
manager, Zhang Ruimin, responsible for a
number of city-owned appliance
companies. Zhang was appointed the
managing director of the factory in
1984.[6]

Haier store in Nanchang

Founding

Haier had been founded as Qingdao

Refrigerator Co. in 1984. With China
opening up to world markets, foreign
corporations began searching for
partnerships in China. One of these,
Germany's refrigerator company Liebherr,
entered into a joint-venture contract with
Qingdao Refrigerator Co., offering
technology and equipment to its Chinese
counterpart. Refrigerators were to be
manufactured under the name of
Qindao-Liebherr (simplified Chinese:琴
岛—利勃海尔; traditional Chinese: 琴島-利
勃海爾; pinyin: Qíndǎo—lìbó hǎi'ěr). The
current brand "Haier" came from the last
two syllables of the Chinese
transliteration of Liebherr (pinyin: lìbó
hǎi'ěr).[8][9]

The installation of Liebherr's equipment

and technology was accompanied by
new quality control and management
processes. By 1986, Qingdao Refrigerator
had returned to profitability and grew in
sales at an average of 83 percent
annually. Between 1984 and 2000, sales
grew from CNY ¥3.5 million to ¥40.5
billion.[10]

In 1988, the municipal government asked

Haier to take over some of the city's
other ailing appliance manufacturers.
The company assumed control of
Qingdao Electroplating Company
(manufacturing microwave ovens).[10] In
1991, the company changed its name to
"Qingdao Haier Group" and acquired
Qingdao Air Conditioner Plant and
Qingdao Freezer.[10] The company's name
was simplified to its current name "Haier"
in 1992.[6] In 1995, the company took
over Qingdao Red Star Electronics Co., a
washing machine manufacturer, along
with five of its subsidiaries.[11] Haier
acquired seven companies between
1995 and 1997, and began exporting to
foreign markets.[12]

International expansion

In Southeast Asia, Haier opened

production facilities in Indonesia in 1996
and the Philippines in 1997[10] and failed
in an attempt to enter the Thai market
due to the presence of local
competitors.[6]

Haier entered the US market in 1999.[11]

In the US it focused upon two niche
markets in compact refrigerators and
electric wine cellars. Haier began to
manufacture full-sized refrigerators for
North American market. This would bring
it into direct competition with established
American companies GE, Whirlpool,
Frigidaire, and Maytag. As part of its
strategy, Haier built a production facility
in the United States at Camden, South
Carolina, opened in 2000. By 2002, US
revenues reached USD $200 million, still
small compared to its overall revenue of
$7 billion.[10] Also in 2002, Haier moved
into the Greenwich Savings Bank Building
in midtown Manhattan. Formerly the
headquarters for the Greenwich Savings
Bank, the 52,000-square-foot (4,800 m2)
building was built in 1924 in the neo-
classical style.

Production facilities were constructed in

Pakistan in 2002 (see Haier Pakistan)
and Jordan in 2003. In Africa, Haier has
plants in five countries: Tunisia, Nigeria,
Egypt, Algeria and South Africa.[13] The
company also purchased a Meneghetti's
factory 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 entered into a joint
venture agreement with the government
of Venezuela.[14]
Haier Appliances (India) P. Ltd initiated
its commercial operations in January
2004. Its headquarters is in New Delhi,
and in 2015 it had 33 operations,
including those in Mumbai, Bangalore,
Chennai, and Kolkata. It was listed
among the top 20 most trusted brands in
India by The Brand Trust Report, a study
conducted by Trust Research Advisory.

In June 2005, Haier made a bid to

acquire Maytag Corporation, backed by
private equity funds Blackstone Group
and Bain Capital. The bid was for
US$1.28 billion, or $16 per share, topping
a previous offer of $14.26 per share
made by Ripplewood Holdings.[15] In the
end, however, Maytag was bought by
Michigan based Whirlpool Corporation
which offered $1.7 billion in cash and
stock, or $21 per share, plus assumed
debt.[16]

A Haier smartphone at the Mobile

World Congress 2015

In 2009, Haier surpassed Whirlpool to

become the fourth largest refrigerator
producer in terms of sales with a global
market share of 6.3%.[17]

In 2012, Haier Group acquired the

appliance business from New Zealand-
based Fisher & Paykel,[18] and Sanyo's
Southeast Asian appliance
manufacturing unit.[19]

In June 2016 Haier Group acquired

General Electric's appliance division for
$5.4 billion.[20] GE Appliances is
headquartered in Louisville, KY.

On 28 September 2018, it was

announced that Haier had acquired Italy
based Candy group.[21]

By 2020, Haier had been the world's

number one home appliance brand for 12
consecutive years.[22]
Technology
In 2015, Haier began investigating how
the internet of things could be integrated
into their devices.[23] The company cited
by the Stanford Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory, which found three barriers to
the adoption of smart home technology:
lack of unified protocols/single point of
access, passive services and the lack of
complete solutions. At the time Haier's
core competencies lay within the large
appliance sector and not the small
electronics sector. Subsequently, they
partnered with the then leading IoT
platform IngDan ( 硬蛋) owned by the
Cogobuy Group to overcame their
shortcomings.[24] By utilising Cogobuy's
ecosystem and supply chain, they were
able to integrate IngDan's portfolio of
components, modules, and edge voice
analysis into smart appliance
products.[25] Haier introduced their smart
appliances across seven product lines in
the major appliance industry: air, water,
clothes care, security, voice control,
health and information.

Company strategy
Zhang Ruimin, soon after becoming
managing director in 1985, ordered his
employees to destroy 76 refrigerators
with sledgehammers following a
customer complaint in an effort to
radically change the company's culture to
one that embodies quality control
practices.[11][26] At the time, Chinese
brands for domestically produced
consumer goods were generally regarded
by overseas consumer markets as being
of poor quality, even when compared
subjectively with foreign brands
manufactured in China.[27] The cultural
transformation towards quality driven
manufacturing resulted in Haier
becoming the first company in China to
get ISO 9001 certification.[11][28] Haier
also announces environmental
sustainable development strategy to
improve the environment by conserving
，
energy and recycling. In 2018 Haier got
“Greener China Business Award” due to
its outstanding efforts to protect the
environment.[29] In 2015, Haier joined
WIPO GREEN as an official partner in an
effort to address climate change.[30]

Ownership structure
In 1993, it listed a subsidiary Qingdao
Haier Refrigerator Co. on the Shanghai
Stock Exchange, raising CN¥370 million.
In 2005, Haier entered the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange through a "backdoor
listing" by acquiring a controlling stake in
a publicly listed joint venture Haier-CCT
Holdings Ltd. (SEHK: 1169 (https://www.
hkex.com.hk/Market-Data/Securities-Pric
es/Equities/Equities-Quote?sym=1169&s
c_lang=en) ). Haier is also an index stock
of the Dow Jones China 88 Index.

Controversy
In 2014, Haier was accused by German
media of allegedly delivering
smartphones and tablets with pre-
installed malware.[31][32][33]

See also
China
portal
Companies
portal

TCL Corporation
GE Appliances
Siemens AG
 AB Electrolux
Maytag Corporation
Samsung Electronics
Sanyo

References
1. "Annual Report 2021" (https://smart-hom
e.haier.com/en/gpxx/iv/P0202204288010
89071891.pdf) (PDF). Haier.com. pp. 19,
22.

2. Yi, Jeannie Jinsheng; Ye, Shawn Xian

(2003). The Haier Way: The Making of a
Chinese Business Leader and a Global
Brand. Dumont, New Jersey: Homa &
Sekey. p. 2. ISBN 1-931907-01-3.
3. "Haier ranks first in volume sales of major
appliances brands in the world in 2018-
Haier Malaysia" (https://www.haier.com/
my/about-haier/news/20190604_74036.s
html) . haier.com. Retrieved 25 November
2019.

4. "From the Global No 1 Home Appliance

Brand to the Global Sole IoT Brand –
Reuters" (https://www.reuters.com/brandf
eatures/venture-capital/article?id=11960
4) . reuters.com. Retrieved 25 November
2019.

5. "Qingdao Haier shareholders back

Frankfurt listing" (https://www.reuters.co
m/article/us-qingdao-haier-germany/qing
dao-haier-shareholders-back-frankfurt-listi
ng-idUSKBN1HZ0C1) . Reuters. 28 April
2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
6. "Haier Group Corporation History" (http://
www.fundinguniverse.com/company-hist
ories/haier-group-corporation-history/) .
FoundingUniverse. Retrieved 31 May
2020.

7. "Haier Rises Through Reform and Opening

Up" (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/20
0108/06/eng20010806_76638.html) .

海尔集团实施商标战略创建国际知名品
8. "
牌" (https://web.archive.org/web/201909
15003856/http://www.haier.net/cn/about
_haier/news/mtzjgz/201404/t20140429_
218323.shtml) . 28 April 2014. Archived
from the original (http://www.haier.net/c
n/about_haier/news/mtzjgz/201404/t201
40429_218323.shtml) on 15 September
2019. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
 9. " 海尔如何成为企业"创新教科书"？" (htt
p://www.sohu.com/a/129334417_46721
5) . Sohu. 19 March 2017.

10. "History of Haier Group Corporation –

FundingUniverse" (http://www.fundinguniv
erse.com/company-histories/Haier-Group
-Corporation-Company-History.html) .
Retrieved 15 January 2016.

11. Haier Group's Strategies in the US Market

(http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/ca
talogue/Business%20Strategy1/BSTR072.
htm) (Case study). IBS Center for
Management Research. 2003.
12. Chinese Champions: Patente made in
China (PDF; 1,6 MB; German). (http://ww
w.chinese-champions.de/wordpress/wp-c
ontent/uploads/Studie_Chinese_Champio
ns.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20131207222721/http://www.chin
ese-champions.de/wordpress/wp-conten
t/uploads/Studie_Chinese_Champions.pd
f) 2013-12-07 at the Wayback Machine
Technische Universität München, Munich
Innovation Group, March 2012, p. 19–23,
retrieved 13 September 2013.

13. "People's Daily Online -- "We will be

volunteer 'spokespersons' for Haier,"
African party officials say" (http://english.
people.com.cn/200506/28/eng20050628
_192698.html) .
14. "Haier's household appliances are sold
very well in Venezuela" (http://haier.com.c
n/news/view.asp?newsid=1254) .

15. "Blackstone and Bain back Chinese firm

Haier in $1.28bn Maytag bid" (https://we
b.archive.org/web/20070928021704/htt
p://www.altassets.com/news/arc/2005/n
z6977.php) . Archived from the original (h
ttp://www.altassets.com/news/arc/2005/
nz6977.php) on 28 September 2007.

16. "Done Deal; Whirlpool Acquires Maytag

For $2.7 Billion" (http://www.rtoonline.co
m/content/article/Aug05/MaytagAcquisit
ionFinal082205.asp) . 13 May 2023.
17. "Haier tops Whirlpool in global refrigerator
sales" (http://news.alibaba.com/article/d
etail/business-in-china/100043963-1-haie
r-tops-whirlpool-global-refrigerator.html) .
Alibaba. 20 January 2009.

18. Tajitsu, Naomi (6 November 2012).

"China's Haier to take complete control of
NZ's F&P Appliances" (https://www.reuter
s.com/article/us-haier-fisherpaykel-takeov
er-idUSBRE8A505J20121106) . Reuters.
Retrieved 15 March 2021.
19. "Haier Completes Sanyo Acquisition in
Southeast Asia" (https://www.haier.com/
my/about-haier/news/20190604_74016.s
html) . Official Haier website (Malaysia).
30 March 2012. Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20220705104921/https://w
ww.haier.com/my/about-haier/news/2019
0604_74016.shtml) from the original on
5 July 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.

20. Riley, Charles (15 January 2016). "China's

Haier buys GE's appliance unit for $5.4
billion" (https://money.cnn.com/2016/01/
15/investing/ge-haier-appliances-sale/ind
ex.html) . CNNMoney. Retrieved 15 March
2021.
21. "Haier acquires Italian appliance company
Candy" (https://industryeurope.com/api/c
ontent/fbff9596-c7df-11e8-9167-120e7ad
5cf50/) . Industry Europe. 4 October
2018. Retrieved 15 March 2021.

22. "Haier – the number 1 global major

appliance brand for 12 years running" (htt
ps://www.ertonline.co.uk/news/haier-the-
number-1-global-major-appliance-brand-fo
r-12-years-running/) . ERT. 14 January
2021. Retrieved 29 November 2021.

23. Crist, Ry (3 September 2015). "Haier's

pitch at IFA: Connect all of the things" (htt
ps://www.cnet.com/news/haier-smart-ho
me-vision-is-all-about-the-appliances/) .
CNET.
24. "Cogobuy Partners with Samsung ARTIK™
Enhancing its Competitive Edge as a
Leading IoT Innovation Platform" (https://
www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_r
eleases/2017/09/17/HK91440) . The
Business Journals. 17 September 2017.

25. "Cogobuy Enters Booming Voice-

Controlled Home Appliances Market" (htt
ps://markets.businessinsider.com/news/
stocks/cogobuy-enters-booming-voice-co
ntrolled-home-appliances-market-100183
1563) . Business Insider. 14 March 2017.

26. Fischer, Bill; Lago, Umberto; Liu, Fang (27

April 2015). "The Haier Road to Growth" (h
ttps://www.strategy-business.com/articl
e/00323?gko=c8c2a) .
strategy+business.
27. Eloot, Karel; Huang, Alan; Lehnich, Martin
(June 2013). "A new era for
manufacturing in China" (https://www.mc
kinsey.com/business-functions/operation
s/our-insights/a-new-era-for-manufacturin
g-in-china) . McKinsey.

28. "Haier Group's Strategy in the US

Market|Business Strategy|Case
Study|Case Studies" (http://www.icmrindi
a.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%2
0Strategy1/Haier%20Groups%20Strategy.
htm) . www.icmrindia.org. Retrieved
1 February 2019.
29. "Haier Marks Earth Hour with Cross-
Continent Interactive Performances-Haier
Malaysia" (https://www.haier.com/my/ab
out-haier/news/20190604_74018.shtml) .
www.haier.com. Retrieved 3 December
2020.

30. "Partners" (https://www3.wipo.int/wipogr

een/en/network/partners.html) .
www3.wipo.int. Retrieved 19 September
2022.

31. Benedikt Fuest (10 December 2014).

"Vorsicht vor Smartphones mit
vorinstallierter Spyware - DIE WELT" (http
s://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/webwelt/artic
le135220310/Wenn-der-Spion-in-der-Hose
ntasche-steckt.html) . DIE WELT.
Retrieved 15 January 2016.
32. "Lookout meldet auf Smartphones
vorinstallierten Android-Trojaner" (http://w
ww.zdnet.de/88213109/lookout-meldet-a
uf-smartphones-vorinstallierten-android-tr
ojaner/) . ZDNet.de. 4 December 2014.
Retrieved 15 January 2016.

33. IT :: Internet :: Design :: Christian Schmitz.

"IT :: Internet :: Design :: Christian Schmitz,
News" (http://it-internet-design.de/News.
php?artid=16) . Retrieved 15 January
2016.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media
related to Haier.
Haier official website (http://www.haie
r.com/)
 Haier Group user manuals (http://www.
manualsbase.com/brand/details/269
3/haier/)

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