The Whirlpool brand's right to operate small household appliances is in the hands of Suning, the channel's owner, and Sanyo’s ownership is in Panasonic’s hands. As a product of Sino-Japanese joint ventures, Timor’s is not favored by new owners. Royalstar is owned by government agencies and is owned by Whirlpool. Company lease use.
On May 24th, Whirlpool's global R&D center and China headquarters in Hefei were officially opened. This is another two important layouts for Whirlpool's presence in China after the Hefei smart plant was put into operation in November last year. It means that Whirlpool will enter China in the future. The troika' drive the era.
The settlement of the global R&D center and China headquarters is an important step in the history of Whirlpool. In the future we will continue to increase our investment in the Chinese market. The vision is to become the third largest home appliance supplier in China. ' Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer is inaugurated The celebration revealed the company's latest goals.
In fact, shortly after entering Hefei Sanyo, Whirlpool announced the goal of 'entering the first group of China's White Electric in 5 to 10 years'. However, after more than four years of development, Whirlpool did not meet expectations, because last year Performance is suspected of false records being investigated by the Securities Commission.
Facing immediate challenges, Ai Xiaoming, the president of China, who took office last year, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from the 21st Century Business Herald that the company will appropriately reduce 1-2 brands according to the business volume this year, and aim at the opportunity of upgrading consumption in China. Structural adjustments to optimize business operations.
Keep two or three brands
At present, Whirlpool has R&D centers in the United States, Brazil, Italy, Germany, India, and China. The R&D center in Hefei is one of Whirlpool’s seven R&D centers in the world. Each R&D center has its own strengths and resources. Sharing. According to Samuel Wu, President of Asia Pacific, the main research directions of Hefei R&D Center are washing machines, refrigerators and microwave ovens.
'With the development of China's economy and the upgrading of the manufacturing industry, productivity cannot be improved by low-cost and large-scale manu- facturing. Therefore, we have transplanted our technology and products here so that the entire production and manufacturing level can be greatly improved. At the same time, we support Whirlpool's long-term strategic development. ' Marc Bitzer admits to reporters that the Whirlpool brand does not have the same leading position and influence in the US and Europe as in China. 'Next we need to invest a lot of effort to make the brand well in the Chinese market.'
At present, Whirlpool China owns four brands of Whirlpool, Sanyo, Timor, and Rongshida, covering refrigerators, washing machines and other white goods, as well as kitchen appliances, living appliances and other product lines. Despite the previous four Big brands have been positioned and differentiated, but the development of the four brands in the past few years still cannot stand out.
This reporter learned that Whirlpool brand's right to operate small household appliances is in the hands of Suning, the channel's owner, and Sanyo’s ownership is in Panasonic’s hands. As a product of Sino-Japanese joint ventures, Timor’s products are not favored by new owners, and Rongshida is owned by government agencies. All, used by the Whirlpool company to rent. The nominal 'four brands' are in fact not completely 'controlled', but also make the Whirlpool team limited everywhere in the competition, gradually becoming the second-tier brand in the Chinese ice washing market.
In 2017, Whirlpool achieved a global operating income of US$21.3 billion, but Whirlpool China’s revenue last year was only 6.364 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6.05%, and net profit of -97 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 134.24%, net of non-recurring gains and losses. The profit is -4.88 billion yuan.
According to Marc Bitzer, the current business volume and channel development in Whirlpool China has no way to support the development of four brands at the same time, but as far as two brands or three brands are retained, the company is still in discussion. Whirlpool is definitely going to retain , As for Timor and Rongshida we are considering, but also does not rule out the introduction of other high-end brands from Whirlpool. 'Ai Xiaoming revealed to reporters.
Focus on business, optimize business
Regarding the current development of Whirlpool China, Ai Xiaoming, who was airborne from OSRAM last year, proposed that the company should make adjustments in three areas in the future: 'First, focusing on resources to focus on adapting to consumption upgrades and valuable brands and channels; Management, control of operating costs, no price war, integration of Whirlpool's global resources to develop more mid- to high-end products; the final is to optimize the product structure, compress the product line, and remove all unsatisfied product models.
Ai Xiaoming believes that controlling operating costs is critical for Whirlpool China. 'This includes not only labor costs. The costs of the upfront investment in excess assets and the upgrade of old low-end products are all operating costs. In these areas, We used to be more wasteful. ' Ai Xiaoming said.
According to the Whirlpool annual report, the operating cost of the company's home appliance manufacturing industry increased by 4.49% year-on-year last year. Its operating costs include direct materials, direct labor and other expenses. 'Too many models will inevitably increase production costs, reduce efficiency, and are not conducive to product promotion. According to reports, Ai Xiaoming has taken over 200 models of Whirlpool China's products to 200 since he took office.
In November last year, the smart plant in Hefei was officially put into production. The annual capacity of the frequency conversion drum washing machine reached 2 million units, and the production efficiency was increased by 50% compared with before. According to Ai Xiaoming, the average unit price of the current washing machine in Whirlpool is about RMB 2,000. The strategy of the entire product in the future We must go in the middle and high-end direction, raise the average price to around 4,000 yuan, and vigorously develop the kitchen electricity market.
Ai Xiaoming judged that compared with the empty ice washing, kitchen appliances will continue to expand and develop at a higher growth rate. Embedded kitchen power will become a new trend in the kitchen power industry. Whirlpool China will use high-end, integrated kitchen power as The company's new business growth point. In March last year, Whirlpool kitchen had successively opened franchised stores in Tmall and Jingdong. Whirlpool plans to build offline experience stores in six major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
According to Marc Bitzer, today's smart home appliances are not new to the younger generation, but are necessary functions. 'The younger generation is no longer satisfied with the traditional washing machines and refrigerators' simple functions, but they also hope to realize oneness. Change, especially when the housing area is relatively small, how to maximize its effect in a limited space. '
In terms of channels, due to the historical problems left over by Hefei Sanyo for many years, the company's dealer team has been in an unstable state for most of the time. E-commerce may be a 'shortcut' for the new company to overtake the curve. According to Ai Xiaoming, At present, the number of e-commerce companies in Whirlpool's Chinese washing machine business accounts for about 25%. In the future, the company will further increase its investment in e-commerce.