Haier

Sanyo President: An Enterprise Can Go Nowhere Without "SUB" and ".. On May 20th, Mr Zhang Ruimin, chief executive officer of Haier Group, took part in the "Future of Asia" forum on invitation. This was Mr Zhang's second visit to Japan this year after the first on January 8th, when he met with Sanyo president Satosh Iue in Osaka, where they jointly announced the strategic cooperation between Haier and Sanyo, which caused a sensation in Japan as well as in the global household appliance circle. "In my opinion, an enterprise can go nowhere without 'SBU' and 'speedy response'", said Mr Satosh Iue during the meeting. As a speaker at the "Future of Asia" forum, he talked much of Haier's working style of swift response. He remarked, "In terms of responding speed, Sanyo can be compared to an elephant while Haier a galloping horse. It's time to turn the elephant into a galloping horse and push it to react speedily." Mr Satosh Iue shared Mr Zhang's "no price war" strategy. Haier has represented a high standard brand image ever since its debut in the Japanese market. Haier products have experienced sales surges one after another in Japan. Reports on the May 13th news conference, which was attended by Mr Wu Kesong, vice chairman of Haier Group, on the introduction of Haier products to the Japanese market, frequently appeared in Japanese newspapers. In mid May, a book entitled "Why Is It That Japanese Enterprises Could Lose to Their Chinese Counterparts" by Mr Mo Bangfu, a famous Chinese writer and critic, began to appear in Japan, the first chapter of which was about Haier. The May 21st edition of the Japanese "World Weekly" carried an article introducing Haier and its chief executive officer Mr Zhang Ruimin. For the Japanese, Haier is no strange name.