science

Haier

Haier is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Haier rather than just read about it. In short: Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Its Haier Smart Home Company affiliate, of which it owns 35%, designs, develops, manufactures and sells home appliances including refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, dryers, and microwave ovens under the brand names Haier, Casarte, Leader, GE Appliances, Fisher & P…

Key takeaways

Haier belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Haier to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Haier from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. Its Haier Smart Home Company affiliate, of which it owns 35%, designs, develops, manufactures and sells home appliances including refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, dryers, and microwave ovens under the brand names Haier, Casarte, Leader, GE Appliances, Fisher & Paykel, Aqua, Candy and Evo. Its Haier Electronics Group affiliate manufactures consumer electronics such as mobile phones, computers, and televisions. Its ThundeRobot brand, founded in 2014, is focused on gaming computers and accessories. Haier Smart Home Company is ranked 407th on the Fortune 500. In 2004, Haier ranked 95th on World Brand Lab's World's Top 100 Most Influential Brands, making it the only Chinese brand on the list. Haier has been one of The World's 500 Most Influential Brands by the World Brand Lab for 21 consecutive years. According to Euromonitor International, Haier ranked first globally in sales volume of major appliances from 2009 to 2018. In 2019, BrandZ ranked Haier as the most valuable brand in the IoT ecosystem category, with a brand value of $16.3 billion. Haier Group has two publicly traded affiliates that trade on three stock exchanges: Haier Smart Home (海尔智家) (SSE: 600690 as well as "D-share" listing of Haier Smart Home in China Europe International Exchange of Frankfurt; ex-Qingdao Haier Co., Ltd.) and Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd. (SEHK: 1169). In 1993, it listed its Qingdao Haier Refrigerator Co. subsidiary on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, raising CN¥370 million. In 2005, Haier entered the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through a "backdoor listing" by acquiring a controlling stake in a publicly listed joint venture Haier-CCT Holdings Ltd. (SEHK: 1169).

History The origins of Haier date back to a refrigerator factory built in Qingdao to supply the Chinese market in the 1920s. After the 1949 establishment of the People's Republic of China, the factory was then taken over and turned into a state-owned enterprise. By the 1980s, the factory had a debt of over CN¥1.4 million and suffered from dilapidated infrastructure, poor management, and lack of quality controls, resulting from the planned economic system and relevant policies. Production had slowed, rarely surpassing 80 refrigerators a month, and the factory was close to bankruptcy. The Qingdao government hired a young assistant city-manager, Zhang Ruimin, responsible for a number of city-owned appliance companies. Zhang was appointed the managing director of the factory in 1984.

Founding Haier was founded as Qingdao Refrigerator Co. in 1984. With China opening up to world markets, foreign corporations began searching for partnerships in China. One of these, Germany's refrigerator company Liebherr, entered into a joint-venture contract with Qingdao Refrigerator Co., offering technology and equipment to its Chinese counterpart. Refrigerators were to be manufactured under the name of Qindao-Liebherr (simplified Chinese: 琴岛—利勃海尔; traditional Chinese: 琴島-利勃海爾; pinyin: Qíndǎo—lìbó hǎi'ěr). The current brand "Haier" came from the last two syllables of the Chinese transliteration of Liebherr (pinyin: lìbó hǎi'ěr). The installation of Liebherr's equipment and technology was accompanied by new quality control and management processes. By 1986, Qingdao Refrigerator had returned to profitability and grew in sales at an average of 83 percent annually. Between 1984 and 2000, sales grew from CNY ¥3.5 million to ¥40.5 billion. In 1988, the municipal government asked Haier to take over some of the city's other ailing appliance manufacturers. The company assumed control of Qingdao Electroplating Company (manufacturing microwave ovens). In 1991, the company changed its name to "Qingdao Haier Group" and acquired Qingdao Air Conditioner Plant and Qingdao Freezer. The company's name was simplified to its current name "Haier" in 1992. In 1995, the company took over Qingdao Red Star Electronics Co., a washing machine manufacturer, along with five of its subsidiaries. Haier acquired seven companies between 1995 and 1997, and began exporting to foreign markets.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Haier

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Haier claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Haier before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Haier ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Haier

In research: Haier appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Haier in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Haier is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Chinese brands, Chinese companies established in 1984, Companies in the CSI 100 Index, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Haier outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Haier in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Haier means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Haier out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Haier in simple terms?

Why does Haier matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Haier?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Haier.