South Asia

South Asia

Haier entered the South Asia market in February, 2001. Following the company's ""Three-in-One" localization strategy, Haier established trading companies, manufacturing facilities, and R&D centers in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and an OEM manufacture in Sri Lanka. The company expanded from white goods such as refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, dishwashers, and microwave ovens, to the brown goods sector, adding televisions, DVD players, and mobile phones to its stable of products, while expanding the company's markets to other South Asian countries including Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

In order to satisfy consumer demands in Pakistan, Haier designed a "gown washing machine." Pakistani weather is famously hot, and Pakistanis prefer to wear soft-textured gowns, with a single family needing to wash at least ten such gowns each day. In response, Haier rolled out the "gown top-load" with a larger wash capacity and impeller. The "gown top-load" was designed specifically for Pakistani families to wash up to 12 gowns in one load with less twisting and abrasion.

Haier also designed a 'wide refrigerator' for local Pakistani consumers. Haier staff responded to Pakistani customer suggestions that the refrigerators sold were too small to accommodate Pakistani households, many of which have several generations--up to 40 people in some cases--living together and sharing one kitchen. At the same time, conventional large volume refrigerators also failed to impress. One Pakistani woman commented, "These refrigerators are larger, but also tall, and I can hardly reach the top shelf." Haier staff researched local conditions and learned from a Pakistani institute that the average height of women there is 1.57 meters, which is shorter than the average Chinese woman, concluding that end-users in Pakistan required large--but not tall----refrigerators. The solution: make the refrigerators wider! The Haier-designed wide refrigerators have since become the most popular foreign brand in the Pakistani refrigerator market.

  • In April 2001, Haier opened an industrial park in Pakistan. This was the second industrial park outside of China following the Haier America Industrial Park in South Carolina. Products made at the park have been sold in India, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa. That same month, Haier also set up its Bangladesh manufacturing facility.
  • On May 6, 2002, the first Pakistani-made Haier washing machine rolled off the production line.
  • In October, 2004, Haier's Pakistan plant passed the ISO9001:2000 International Quality Management System. Haier was the first foreign company to obtain such certification in Pakistan's home appliance industry. This was also the first Haier plant outside of China to receive ISO9001:2000 certification.
  • On November 26, 2006, Haier opened the Haier Ruba Economic Zone, established under Haier's leadership. PRC President Hu Jintao was present for the official unveiling ceremony held in Lahore, Pakistan. This was not only the first of the ten economic trade cooperation zones established outside China by the PRC Ministry of Commerce. , but also the first China Special Economic Zone established by the Pakistani government. By taking advantages of preferential policies for bilateral investment and trade, including financing, streamlined export and customs procedures, tax breaks on imported equipment, infrastructure, and business services, the zone became a multinational platform for Chinese companies to enter the market in Pakistan and other South Asian nations.
  • On August 9, 2007, Haier purchased a refrigerator factory in India to establish the company's first manufacturing facility in that country. Haier's factory in India occupies an area of 160,000 square meters with 300 employees producing 350,000 refrigerators each year. The establishment of Haier's factory in India represented a key step in building the company's "Three-in-One" operational framework in India.