Hisense Group Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong province. Television sets are its main product, and it has been the largest TV manufacturer in China by market share since 2004. It was the world's fourth-largest TV manufacturer by market share in the first half of 2023 and the second-largest by number of units shipped in 2022. Hisense is also an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), so some of its products are sold to other companies and have brand names unrelated to Hisense. Two major subsidiaries of Hisense Group are listed companies: Hisense Visual Technology (SSE: 600060) and Hisense H.A. (SEHK: 921, SZSE: 000921). Both had a state ownership of over 30% via Hisense's holding company before the end of 2020. Hisense Group has over 80,000 employees worldwide, as well as 14 industrial parks, some of which are located in China (Qingdao, Shunde, and Huzhou), the Czech Republic, South Africa, and Mexico. There are also 18 R&D centers located in China (Qingdao and Shenzhen), the United States, Germany, Slovenia, Israel, and other countries.
History Qingdao Number 2 Radio Factory, the predecessor of Hisense Group, was established in September 1969. The first product of the small factory was a radio sold under the brand name Red Lantern, but the company later gained the know-how to make TVs through a trial-production of black and white televisions ordered by the Shandong National Defense Office. That involved the technical training of three employees at another Chinese factory, Tianjin 712, resulting in the production of 82 televisions by 1971 and the development of transistor TVs by 1975. Its first TV model, the CJD18, was produced in 1978. Television production in China was limited until 1979, but a meeting of the Ministry of Electronics in Beijing concluded with calls for greater development of the civil-use electronics industry. Qingdao Number 2 Radio Factory was then merged with other local electronics makers and manufactured televisions under the name Qingdao General Television Factory in Shandong province. The Hisense Group emerged in 1994 following radical changes initiated in 1992 by then-president Zhou Houjian, or perhaps even by Li Dezhen, director of the Electronic Instrument Bureau of Qingdao. The Hisense Electrical Appliance Share Holding Company (now Hisense Electrical Co Ltd) was publicly listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 1997. Increased competition and price wars in the Chinese electronics market in the 1990s were a boon to Hisense, which gained ten failing enterprises by 1998. Eager to expand beyond consumer electronics, Hisense Group aimed to become a regional leader in household appliances, computers and communications as well. This strategy prompted great outlays of capital on R&D and on the creation of industrial parks, etc. Aware of the limitations in its own technology, Hisense opted to purchase technology from various companies. These include Matsushita, Hitachi, Lucent, NEC, Sanyo, Toshiba, and Qualcomm. In 2005, Hisense developed a digital media processing chip named "HiView" for color television sets. In 2013, Hisense invented a type of transparent 3D television. In July 2015, Hisense bought a Mexico facility from Sharp for $23.7 million alongside rights to use the Sharp brand on televisions sold in North and South America. In November 2017, Hisense announced it would gain a 95% controlling stake in Toshiba Visual Solutions for US$113 million. In 2018, Hisense became the majority shareholder in Slovenian appliance manufacturer Gorenje with 95.4% of shares. In 2020, Hisense introduced the world's first 8K 10 bit HDR screen TV that is based on an AI-powered HDR algorithm and an image quality engine claiming 6.5T supercomputing power. In May 2022, Hisense announced the launch of the company's first 4K Fire TV. The TV has a 50-inch 60 Hz display with a bezel-less design. It uses Hisense's proprietary ULED (Ultra LED) technology and comes with support for Dolby vision HDR with Fire TV built in.
Products and services
Hisense manufactures white goods, televisions, set-top boxes, digital TV broadcasting equipment, mobile devices (including phones), wireless modules, wireless PC cards, optical components, personal computers (desktops and laptops), projectors and monitors, as well as POS solutions. In 2018, Hisense released its first OLED television, and its first 8K television was released in 2021. In the early 2020s, the company has expanded into the projector market. At the 2023 CES, Hisense also presented several gaming monitors. Hisense has developed mobile devices, including regular Android-based smartphones and tablets, as well as Android smartphones with e-ink displays, and other related portable devices, marketed as e-ink music players and e-readers. Hisense has created a customized version of Android called Vision. In some regions (e.g. in Mexico and South Africa), Hisense is a major mobile phone manufacturer, primarily offering budget or mid-tier devices. In Indonesia, the company's mobile phones were largely offered under Smartfren's Andromax brand. In 2019, Hisense phones were made available in Serbia. Although Hisense's core business are budget TVs, the company has a broad market coverage, offering devices in all price ranges. Particularly since the 2020s, the company has been offering high-end television models in large screen sizes, being the largest manufacturer of 100-inch TVs by shipment as of 2023. As of 2023, Hisense's flagship TV line is the UX series of mini LED TVs, which are positioned above the company's OLED models. Hisense retails products under several brand names, including Hisense, Toshiba, Gorenje, Sharp, Kelon, Hitachi, Asko and Ronshen.
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