Daniel Slotta
Research expert covering Greater China
Haier Group - statistics & facts
Founded in the early 80s in China’s Shandong province, Haier is a multinational consumer electronics and home appliance company. In its early development, Qingdao Refrigerator Co., as Haier was called then, focused on basic and affordable household appliances. The products with the iconic logo displaying two children became an integral part of many households across China. Ultimately, Haier became one of the world’s leading household appliance brands with an increasing ambition to develop beyond the low-price segment and instead with more focus on innovation and high-tech.
However, Haier does not only rely on acquiring foreign companies and technology but also places a large emphasis on the development of in-house know-how. Therefore, the group maintains 14 R&D centers worldwide and invested almost seven billion yuan in the development of new technology and products. The efforts have appeared to pay off as Haier had the highest number of smart home patent applications in China.
Smart technology is received with open arms by Chinese consumers. The number of smart homes was projected to continue to grow over the current decade. Especially the smart appliances, energy management, and security products demonstrate significant potential. With Haier’s wide product selection and proprietary smart home management application, Haier U-Home, the company is poised to capitalize on this industry trend. After all, smart-tech products are the future of the Chinese electronics and household appliance industries. As Chinese tech companies continue to develop, their technology will become increasingly available worldwide.
Adapt and evolve
As part of the company’s recent development strategy, Haier and its entities have undergone a restructuring along with buying up other international companies. First, the company changed the name of its mainland Chinese entity from Qingdao Haier to Haier Smart Home. Second, Haier Electronics, which was listed on the Hong Kong Exchange, was formally incorporated into the mainland Chinese holding in late 2020 and its shares were converted into H-shares. The shares retained the ability to be traded in Hong Kong through China’s Stock Connect. In addition to restructuring the corporation, Haier also acquired companies. For instance, in 2016 the enterprise bought the American home appliance manufacturer subsidiary of General Electric called General Electric Appliances for 5.6 billion U.S. dollars.However, Haier does not only rely on acquiring foreign companies and technology but also places a large emphasis on the development of in-house know-how. Therefore, the group maintains 14 R&D centers worldwide and invested almost seven billion yuan in the development of new technology and products. The efforts have appeared to pay off as Haier had the highest number of smart home patent applications in China.
Getting smarter
China’s electronics and appliance industry is heavily focused on smart technology. In China, the market size of the smart home sector exceeded 652 billion yuan in 2022. All major companies in the industry develop smart products and build their smart home management devices, which connects all smart devices and gives the user a central control hub. According to forecasts, various industry segments such as the smart home appliance segment are going to grow significantly in the coming years.Smart technology is received with open arms by Chinese consumers. The number of smart homes was projected to continue to grow over the current decade. Especially the smart appliances, energy management, and security products demonstrate significant potential. With Haier’s wide product selection and proprietary smart home management application, Haier U-Home, the company is poised to capitalize on this industry trend. After all, smart-tech products are the future of the Chinese electronics and household appliance industries. As Chinese tech companies continue to develop, their technology will become increasingly available worldwide.
