It's about the long-game strategy...
Haier has been making full-sized refrigerators for the "low end" price point market for some time, a friend of mine has several in rental properties and they've served quite well. His theory is that spending $400 on a unit that will be essentially destroyed by uncaring tenants within in a few years is a good investment.
I suspect it will be like most of the foreign brands from emerging economies. It was really no different with the Japanese manufacturing, they begin by making carnival trinkets and within a couple of decades evolve their engineering and manufacturing to overtake the electronic and automobile markets. LG is a good example, remember Goldstar brand? A few reasonably good products but mostly junk with a poor reputation. Fifteen years later, their appliances and electronics are at or near the top of the ratings and one of the most popular brands on the market.
Quality and durability are just as important to the Chinese consumer as everyone else and while the export market is bread-and-butter to a company like Haier right now, they know that their growing domestic market will sustain their earnings long-term. Time will tell, but Haier will evolve and move forward and likely be a major player in the global appliance market for years to come. By 2011, they were already number one in global market share.
Haier has been making full-sized refrigerators for the "low end" price point market for some time, a friend of mine has several in rental properties and they've served quite well. His theory is that spending $400 on a unit that will be essentially destroyed by uncaring tenants within in a few years is a good investment.
I suspect it will be like most of the foreign brands from emerging economies. It was really no different with the Japanese manufacturing, they begin by making carnival trinkets and within a couple of decades evolve their engineering and manufacturing to overtake the electronic and automobile markets. LG is a good example, remember Goldstar brand? A few reasonably good products but mostly junk with a poor reputation. Fifteen years later, their appliances and electronics are at or near the top of the ratings and one of the most popular brands on the market.
Quality and durability are just as important to the Chinese consumer as everyone else and while the export market is bread-and-butter to a company like Haier right now, they know that their growing domestic market will sustain their earnings long-term. Time will tell, but Haier will evolve and move forward and likely be a major player in the global appliance market for years to come. By 2011, they were already number one in global market share.
