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.
For the psychologist, see Richard J. Haier.
Native name
海尔集团公司
1984
Worldwide
- Zhang Ruimin (chairman & CEO)
- Liang Haishan (rotating president)
- Zhou Yunjie (rotating president)
- Major appliances
Small appliances - Commercial heating and cooling systems
- Consumer electronics
CN¥15.91 billion (2021)[1]
CN¥13.21 billion (2021)[1]
CN¥217.5 billion (2021)[1]
CN¥81.0 billion (2021)[1]
109,586 (2021)[1]
- GE Appliances (U.S.) (90%)
- Hotpoint (U.S.)
- Hoover (Europe)
- Candy
- Fisher & Paykel
海尔
海爾
Hǎi'ěr
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; ex-Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd.), Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd. (SEHK: 1169), and "D-share" listing of Haier Smart Home in China Europe International Exchange of Frankfurt.[5]
Technology[edit]
In 2015, Haier began investigating how the internet of things could be integrated into their devices.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24] 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[edit]
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.[10][25] 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.[26] The cultural transformation towards quality driven manufacturing resulted in Haier becoming the first company in China to get ISO 9001 certification.[10] 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.[27] In 2015, Haier joined WIPO GREEN as an official partner in an effort to address climate change.[28]
Controversy[edit]
In 2014, Haier was accused by German media of delivering smartphones and tablets with pre-installed malware.[30][31]
In 2024, Haier sent cease and desist letter to the open-source projects hOn and pyhOn,
that developed an add-on for Home Assistant which allowed one to control appliances without Haier's 3rd-party cloud service.[32][33]