Haier

Haier and Sanyo Formed a Joint Venture to Exploit the Market In the afternoon January 8th 2002, Haier Group and the Japanese Sanyo Motor jointly held a news conference in a hotel, Osaka, announcing the establishment of their joint venture ¡ªSanyo-Haier Co.. The purpose to set up this new joint venture company is to exchange market resources based on the Chinese and Japanese markets, to create a new type of relationship between partnership and competition in the information era, and moreover, to expand both companies' market share. Wang Taiping, consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Osaka, showed up in this news briefing. He spoke highly of the cooperation. "It is of great significance for promotion of the two countries' economy," said the consul general. The Haier-Sanyo cooperation cause a strong reaction from various levels of Japanese society once it was revealed. Reporters from more than 50 media covered the conference, showing their strong interest in the event. NHK, the largest television network in Japan, broadcast this news in the same evening. The television's editorial said Haier's entry of Japan and cooperation with Sanyo would certainly bring in significant effect on the future strategy of other household appliance makers in Japan. The top headline article on the January 9 issue of the newspaper Asahi Shimbun included these words "this peer to peer cooperation between Haier and Sanyo was the first of its kind in Japan." The Nikkei Shimbun, Nikkei BP Network and Daily Yomiuri each issue a piece of news for this conference at a prominent position in their newspapers. Sanyo attached great importance to the cooperation, and after consultation with Haier Group, had specifically set the new briefing on the first working day of the new year, i.e. January 8. For this news briefing, Haier Group sent a high profile delegation led by the group's CEO Zhang Ruimin. Zhang and Sanyo's president Mr. Satoshi Iue attended the news conference and answered reporters' questions. "It is depending both parties' cooperation in the market. Any technology should be subject to development of the market. The core of the Haier-Sanyo cooperation is to do a good job for the market. Further cooperation in technology comes only after consumers have been won over with the product, said Zhang, when answering a reporter's question about what new technology Haier will get from the cooperation. "The foundation of the partnership is that both parties have their own strong points, with their work centering around the market. This cooperation make it possible to use each other's customer resources, enlarge both parties' market share, and have more customers. On this platform, we can go further and carry out cooperation in many fields including technology, said Zhang. "Sanyo has operated in the Chinese Mainland for more than ten years. I have been in China for many times. But when I was in Qingdao the first time I met such far sighted entrepreneurs as Mr. Zhang Ruimin and Ms. Yang Mianmian (President of Haier). The cooperation with Haier is one of the important bracing columns in Sanyo' global strategy for the twenty first century. The partnership between Sanyo and Haier should be "Asian Model" for promotion of the global economy," said Mr. Satoshi Iue. In the picture: Mr. Satoshi Iue (Middle), president of Sanyo, Mr. Zhang Ruimin, CEO of Haier, and Ms. Yang Mianmian, President of Haier are at the news conference in Osaka.