1April 30, 999; In Camden, a small town with a population of 8,000 in central South Carolina, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for Haier's $30 million production center. More than a year later, the first Haier refrigerator labeled "Made in America" stepped off the beautiful production line, and Haier began the history of making refrigerators in the United States. Haier became the first company in China to manufacture and sell products in the United States.
In just a few years, Haier first exported refrigerators to the United States; Haier refrigerator has successfully established its own brand in the American market. Last year, the American retail giant Wal-Mart chain store sold Haier brand air conditioners. At the beginning of this year, Vuormaa chain began to sell two kinds of small refrigerators and two kinds of small freezers from Haier, and signed an agreement with Haier to buy another 65,438+000,000 refrigerators. Haier's most popular products in the United States are small refrigerators used in student dormitories and offices. Haier has also achieved success in horizontal freezers. This product accounts for one-third of the market share of similar models in the United States. Haier's window air conditioners also have a broad market; This product has accounted for 3% of the American market, and it is expected that the sales volume will double this year.
The American market is a very mature market and the most difficult market to enter in the world. Many companies in Asia are bashing head-on in this market. In the past 10 years, Acer in Taiwan Province Province spent more than 10 billion dollars to promote its brand in the United States, but eventually withdrew from the American market due to serious losses. Due to the difficulty in entering the American market, domestic companies in China currently enter the American market mainly through order production or OEM. For example, Kelon's sales in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are all under its own brand; However, sales in the United States and Europe are OEM; That is, its products exported to the United States are sold under the brand name of American companies. For example, the Nagic chef brand refrigerator currently sold by Wal-Mart chain stores is designed and manufactured by Kelon. At present, Haier is the first company to produce China products with China brand in the American market.
Haier refrigerator was rated as the best-selling product in the United States. The famous American magazine Twice made statistics on the best-selling household appliances in the United States. Haier (600690) refrigerator, together with world-famous brands such as GE and Whirlpool, became the best-selling products in the United States, among which the sales of various small refrigerators represented by Haier grew the fastest, with an average speed of 23.9%. O According to relevant statistics, in September 2000, Haier's BC50 and BC50 refrigerators were the most popular small refrigerators in the United States, ranking second. There are many famous brands in the American home appliance market, and the competition is fierce, which is almost the arena of all world famous brands. Haier can occupy a place in the American market with its own brand, which shows that Haier products have fully possessed the ability to participate in international high-level competition.
Haier's entry strategy
Haier claims that its internationalization strategy adopts the strategy of "easy first, then difficult", that is, it first enters the most exquisite and critical foreign markets, occupies the commanding heights, and then enters other countries' markets condescendingly. However, judging from the development route of Haier's entry into the American market, Haier's strategy is actually "easy first, then difficult".
Generally speaking, there are two modes in the process of enterprise internationalization. One is the gradual mode, that is, the "easy first and then difficult" mode. The other is the "global start" mode, which can be said to be the "easy first and then difficult" mode.
"Easy before difficult" includes the choice of target market and management mode. The target market is easy first and then difficult. It means that in the process of internationalization, enterprises first choose their familiar overseas markets with similar geographical location or customs as their international target markets, and then choose relatively unfamiliar overseas markets with farther geographical location or greater cultural differences as their target markets. The basic order is:
Local market-regional market-national market-overseas peripheral market-global market
For example, many enterprises in Chinese mainland started their overseas investment from Hong Kong, because Hong Kong's geographical location is close to that of the Mainland and its culture is basically the same. For another example, China started overseas project contracting activities in the late 1970s, starting from Nepal, Tanzania and other countries, because China has provided a large number of economic assistance projects to these countries since the beginning of the 20th century, which enabled China's engineering companies to have a better understanding of the cultural and commercial environment of these countries.
In terms of operation mode, it means that enterprises first participate in the international market through simple and easy ways (including passive export and active export) with the least investment requirements, and then gradually engage in transnational business activities with higher capital requirements and greater risks, including setting up overseas sales offices and overseas direct investment.
The advantage of the internationalization mode of "easy before difficult" is that enterprises can have time to accumulate experience and resources (including human resources and material resources), increase their overseas operation ability, and reduce the decision-making risk and the ability to bear failure. This is the internationalization method adopted by most enterprises in the world.
"Global Entrepreneurship" mode means that an enterprise implements internationalization strategy from the beginning of its establishment, and once it is established, it becomes a multinational company, thus surpassing many stages of internationalization development of general enterprises. For example, LASA Co., Ltd. in the United States, which is a company that sells microprocessor standard technology. Its founders are American, French and Swiss, with funds from Europe, operating headquarters and R&D headquarters in the United States, product sales department in France, financial management in Switzerland and production in Scotland (using Scotland's preferential investment policy).
Another example is IXI Company in Britain, which provides desktop and window computer software for UNIX operating system. Its development does not start at home and then go abroad, but the opposite. The founder and chairman of the company know the American and Japanese markets very well, so after the company was established, it first produced for the American market, followed by the Japanese market, and finally sold in the UK. The company's funds come from Britain, Germany, Austria and Japan. Established subsidiaries in the United States and Japan. Four years after the product was launched, 60% of the company's revenue came from the United States, 20% from the United Kingdom and 65,438+00% from Japan.
The emergence of global development mode is due to the rapid development of communication and transportation since the 1980s, which makes it easier for entrepreneurs to obtain information from overseas markets and global resources. The advantages of global entrepreneurship enable enterprises to effectively use the capital resources, R&D resources, preferential policies and customer resources announced in different parts of the world to seize the most important market in the world. Most start-up enterprises in the world are high-tech enterprises. The way Haier's products enter the American market is basically the first mode-the gradual mode of easy first and then difficult. In the way of entry, the way of direct investment after export is adopted:
Export-joint design-establishment of trading companies and local production.
Haier 1995 began to export refrigerators to the United States. At first, I was an OEM, and later I started to play my own brand. It has been nearly five years since the establishment of Haier American Trading Co., Ltd. and Haier American Production Center in the United States. At this time, Haier has accumulated more knowledge about the American market.
The development of Haier's geographical location is also near first and then far. 1995 In July, Haier established a trading company in Hong Kong; June 1996 Haier established Shapiro Co., Ltd. in Indonesia; June 1997 Haier established Haier -LKG Electric Appliance Co., Ltd. in the Philippines; In August of the same year, Haier Industry (ASEAN) Co., Ltd. was established in Malaysia. According to Zhang Ruimin, president of Haier, all the above investments are for training Haier to enter the American market. Especially the Philippines, which is also an English-speaking country, is deeply influenced by American culture, and a lot of experience accumulated in the Philippines can be used in the United States.
In addition to entering the mode, Haier's product strategy and investment mode are also easy before difficult. From the perspective of product types, Haier's strategy is to enter the American market with one or two products first, and then develop more after gaining a foothold. At present, Haier has basically gained a foothold in the small refrigerator, and the next step is to expand the results: selling and producing Haier's other electrical and electronic products. Haier's nearly 4000 square feet exhibition hall on the fourth floor of Manhattan headquarters building; Haier products such as washing machines, freezers, large-capacity refrigerators and flat-panel TVs have been displayed and promoted. There is still enough land around Haier's refrigerator factory in Camden for further factory production of Haier air conditioners, Haier washing machines and Haier TVs.
Haier's localization strategy
Enterprises should consider two basic issues when implementing internationalization strategy: globalization or localization? The so-called globalization means that enterprises produce products for the global market without considering or less considering the differences between different places. Companies that implement the globalization strategy adopt standardized products, promotion strategies and distribution channels in every country as much as possible. Integrate global resources as much as possible, produce at the lowest labor cost, purchase at the cheapest place with the cheapest raw materials and sell at the highest price. For example, Nike, its design and marketing are arranged in the United States; Because the United States has the world's leading designers who know the American market best, the American market is the market with the highest consumption level. Its production is carried out in Donglai and other places in China, because the labor in these places is cheap. The advantage of this strategy is that it can gain the scale advantage of production, avoid the waste of resource utilization such as repeated design and repeated research and development, and thus minimize the cost.
Different from the globalization strategy is the localization strategy. Localization strategy pays the most attention to local special consumption demand, so it emphasizes product design and marketing according to the special needs of local market. The biggest advantage of this strategy is that the products provided take special account of the demand differences in different places. For example, refrigerators have different climatic zones, voltage conditions and consumption habits in each country, so the design requirements for refrigerators are different. Products that cannot meet the local market may face difficulties. Whirlpool 1997, an American home appliance giant, withdrew from the China market because its products lacked pertinence to the China market. 1994 whirlpool and snowflake refrigerator factory set up a Taiwan-funded enterprise, hoping to take advantage of the alliance with Chinese enterprises to occupy the refrigerator market in China. However, Whirlpool withdrew from the alliance with Snowflake only three years later. At the same time, it also withdrew from the alliance with Ranbo. The reasons for Whirlpool's failure include: Whirlpool used foreign theories to infer the demand of China market; As a result, the designed new products didn't sell well in China market.
At present, Haier's competition in the American market is basically a localization strategy. Haier Design Center was established in Los Angeles, Haier American Trading Company was established in new york, and Haier Production Center was established in South Carolina, forming a trinity management pattern of design, production and sales in the United States. The main purpose of this is to better understand the American market and respond to market changes faster. Many products sold by Haier in the United States are not original products of Haier, but specially designed and produced for the American market. For example, the BCD-275 Haier refrigerator exported to the United States is specially designed, developed and manufactured according to the information fed back by Haier Overseas Information Station and the regional characteristics of American refrigerators such as appearance, cooling capacity and usage habits.
An example of the successful implementation of Haier's localization strategy is Haier wine cabinet. This is a product with gorgeous appearance, frosted glass door, arc shape, soft interior lighting and sliding aluminum-plated food rack. The first product was put on the market in July last year, and the price was around 400 dollars, which was deeply loved by consumers. It was exhibited at the entrance and exit of P.C. Richard & Son Department Store in new york and Best Buy Mall, the most famous retail store of LA Research Institute, with good response. Haier hopes to sell tens of thousands of such products this year, and 12 varieties will be put on the market in the second half of this year. It is planned that the sales will reach 1 100 million USD by 2005. It has been less than a year since the American team conceived and designed the product and put it on the market.
The human resource management of Haier American trading company and production center is also a localization strategy. Many successful Japanese companies in the United States adopt wholly-owned subsidiaries and are managed by managers appointed by the headquarters. Haier's way is different. Haier American Trading Company is a joint venture between Haier and American Household Electrical Appliances Company (ACA), with Haier holding a majority stake and ACA holding a minority stake. The management of the joint venture is entirely managed by American managers with industrial experience and pioneering ability hired locally. American managers have great autonomy. They will promote the brand; And strive for new customers. What Haier has to do is to formulate its own business strategy. Although Haier's production center in the United States is a wholly-owned enterprise of Haier, the main managers are Americans. At present, except for a few people sent by China, the employees are basically Americans.
Haier's brand strategy
What Haier wants to do is to be an international brand operator with international competitiveness, and building an international brand is an important goal of Haier. Therefore, promoting Haier brand is an important task for Haier in the United States. In the past, Haier's publicity in the American market was relatively low-key, except for the "Haier" trademark affixed to trolleys at several major airports, and there were basically no advertisements. But recently Haier has strengthened its brand strategy. Haier will adopt some new advertising media in the United States, including billboards, bus stops and television. A TV advertisement linking Haier's latest DVD with Michael Jordan's film promotion has been broadcast on TV. Walking in the streets of Los Angeles, new york and Washington, you can also see the huge advertisement 1-888-76 Haier, which is a free service phone launched by Haier in the United States. The free hotline service opened by the after-sales service center of Haier American Trading Company has covered the whole country.
Advantages and disadvantages of Haier in the United States
When the world's home appliance giants have set up factories in China, taking advantage of China's low labor cost to occupy the vast market in China, what is the significance of Haier's setting up factories in the United States? On the surface, Haier's move seems to violate the law of comparative advantage, because the production cost in the United States is much higher than that in China. But careful analysis shows that Haier's production in the United States has many intangible benefits:
1. It is beneficial for Haier to strive for a world brand. The United States is the country that imports the most household appliances in the world, and all the famous household appliances brands in the world compete in this market. American home appliance enterprises headed by General Electric and Whirlpool are very famous in the world. Being able to occupy a place in the notoriously difficult American market is equivalent to sending a strong signal to other markets in the world. Haier is already one of the most competitive home appliance manufacturers in the world. In this way, Haier can easily enter the markets of other countries in the world with its American brand.
2. It is beneficial to win over retailers and consumers. Retailers and consumers do not like "hooligans"; Because home appliances need to solve the problem of after-sales service. Establish a production center in the United States; This means a commitment to American consumers and sellers; Mel will be here for a long time to serve customers and provide logistical support. This will naturally make Haier's retailers and consumers feel more at ease about Haier's products, improve the confidence of retailers in promoting brands, and thus make it easier for Haier to win retailers and customers.
3. It is beneficial to respond to the American market more quickly. The establishment of trading companies and designs in the United States will help Haier feel the subtle changes in American consumer demand and monitor the inventory of department stores, thus ensuring timely delivery and providing more targeted products.
Camden's factory will help Haier eliminate the image of "outsider". The mark of origin is a very important factor for American consumers to choose between similar products and prices. For American consumers, the "Made in America" logo helps to win goodwill.
However, Haier's direct investment in production in the US market is also risky. These risks come from many unfavorable factors of Haier in the American market. The main unfavorable factors include:
1. Cost disadvantage. The cost disadvantage comes from several aspects. First of all, Haier, as a foreign-funded enterprise, must pay workers higher wages than American enterprises in order to attract employees of the same grade. Just as the wages paid by foreign companies in China to China employees are higher than those paid by China companies to similar employees, the wages paid by China companies contracting overseas projects are also higher than those paid by local companies to similar employees. Secondly, remote management will inevitably increase management fees, including increased communication and transportation costs. Again; The price of cultural friction. Production in the United States needs to deal with cross-cultural management. Because there are huge differences between eastern and western cultures.
2. The profit of the occupied small refrigerator market is relatively thin, which is ignored by the major home appliance manufacturers in the United States. In this market, Haier's competitors are brands that have lost competition, such as Korean characters. If Haier wants to develop into that part of the market with high profit margin, it will directly confront the major manufacturers in the United States, and then it will encounter more intense competition than it does now. Haier has a big gap with major American home appliance manufacturers such as General Electric Whirlpool and Metatag in terms of brand, financial strength and R&D capability. In addition, in order to develop in Gaorui, Haier needs to change the image of low-cost suppliers. Currently; This image has not changed.
3. The risk of diversification. Gree Company in China specializes in air conditioners, and Little Swan Company specializes in washing machines. Kelon, once rated as the best enterprise in Asia, only produces a few products such as refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines. Haier "produces 69 kinds of products with more than 10800 specifications"; Many products are also ready to be launched in the United States; It may be difficult to guarantee the competitiveness of every product. (Editor in charge: business people)