Hisense: discovery of a Chinese giant that looks to the future…

Qingdao is almost a coastal Chinese “small city”, with only 10 million inhabitants and a world-class commercial port. The Chinese come there to enjoy many things. From the sea, the rather mild climate, the not always polluted sky, the old German quarter, relief of the city's transfer to our neighbors across the Rhine from 1899 to 1914, and the extremely famous local beer, Tsingtao, set out to conquer the world for a long time… If all this is worth the detour, The Digitals went there for a completely different reason. The city is also the birthplace of the giant Hisense (and Haier, for that matter), present on the French market for televisions, then washing machines and even dishwashers for just ten years. The opportunity to take stock of this Chinese giant which continues to grow, its head turned towards the future.

Ten years in France, but 55 in China…

A decade in France, but the company's history begins much longer ago, in 1969, in Qingdao. A long history of 55 years now, and punctuated with commercial and technological firsts, which began modestly with a single product and a company called Qingdao n°2 Radio Factory… Apparently, the company manufactured and marketed the first transistor radio from China. In 1970, the young company launched its first black and white television, in a small series – only 82 units. To put into perspective the progress made, in 2024, around 41 million flat or curved televisions will have been manufactured by the group on its 63 production lines scattered across the world (37 in China, 15 in Mexico, 3 in Africa). South, 4 in Slovenia and 4 in Vietnam).

In any case, over the course of the 1970s, the company diversified and added, for example, refrigerators to its range. The situation took a new turn in 1978, when the Chinese economy opened up to the world. There followed an acceleration in the development of the structure, and television quickly became king. In 1979, the ten-year-old little giant became Qingdao Television.

Learn by doing for others…

It was not until 1993 that the different brands of the group and the company itself changed their name and became Hisense, a way to simplify and modernize the marketing message, and also a way to stick to the change in strategy. Hisense in fact decided at that time to attack markets outside its borders, which meant, among other things, that the young giant would work to develop and optimize its industrial tool to be able to put it at the service of others (OEM), initially, then his own brand… “From 2002 to 2007”explains Jerry Liu, vice-president of Hisense International, the Hisense Group subsidiary focused abroad, during a meeting with the European press, “we have manufactured for other brands, we have learned to meet the requirements and expectations of other countries”.

At the same time, the company is also expanding its national scope of activity. Thus, in 2001, Hisense launched into telecommunications, mainly targeting the professional market. The company has developed know-how in reinforced communication devices dedicated to law enforcement, in particular. On the general public side, it no longer produces smartphones in its name, “a market that is too ripe and already shared”justifies Jerry Liu. Nevertheless, the Chinese giant continues to manufacture smartphones, it is its factories which manufacture the ultra-resistant devices from the company Crosscall.

Consolidating the brand, the art of war

Between approximately 2008 and 2012, Hisense then worked to raise awareness of its brand across the world and improve its marketing know-how. A direct confrontation with other countries which will also lead to painful realizations. At the time, “our company already knew how to produce good products, but between 2010 and 2016 we were bad at marketing”remembers Jerry Liu. To correct this problem, Jerry Liu's teams had to convince the group that “we needed something bigger, to make an impact”. For this, Hisense will move to a new phase of its development. It consists of localizing production, marketing and R&D.

For the first two points, Hisense will pursue a policy of one-off buybacks. This will be the case of Sharp, in 2015, which allows the Chinese company to recover the brand license and also, or even above all, a television factory in Mexico. A way to produce at the gates of North America and Latin America.

In Europe, the acquisition of the Slovenian household appliance giant Gorenje in 2018 offers it a whole bouquet of established brands, such as Akso, a Swedish brand positioned in high-end household appliances, but also an efficient local production tool and knowledge. -do in an area where Hisense could progress: cooking equipment.

To support this effort, Hisense is creating national entities in quick succession in different countries, such as France, where Hisense products will be marketed at the beginning of 2015, after the creation of Hisense France at the end of 2014. Great Britain saw the Chinese giant settling the previous year and Germany a few years earlier still. Its subsidiaries make it possible to refine marketing by adopting it to local specificities, “while raising specific expectations and needs”explains Damien Neymarc, branding and communications director for Hisense France, who is pleased that the Chinese management teams have a pragmatic culture of listening.

Sport, humility and pragmatism

If the Hisense brand can still progress in France, with 40% assisted recognition, Damien Neymarc tells us, the company has found, in sports sponsorship, a powerful lever to make itself known. It will all start in our latitudes with Euro 2016, in France. The UEFA Euro of which Hisense was then a partner in 2020 and 2024. But the Chinese giant also signed, after careful consideration, partnership programs with sports clubs such as PSG, Real Madrid or Leeds United.

This rise in power of the brand through sports communication illustrates the latest phase of Hisense's strategy. The Chinese group now intends to become the benchmark brand in the markets it occupies. This may seem presumptuous, but the Chinese giant has patiently placed its marbles, aligned the planets, consolidating its position and its know-how at each stage.

In France, in the main markets where it is present (Laser TV, laser video projectors, dishwashers, refrigerators, etc.), it seems to be succeeding in growing in generally bearish markets. This allows it either to establish itself comfortably as a leader that is taking off, or to eat away at the market shares that separate it from the historic leader. Samsung, for example, in the television sector. A flagship sector where even if a setback is always possible, Hisense seems to be aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

An interview with Sonny Ming, Hisense International's general manager for Laser TV and audio, provides a good example of this realistic approach. “In the television market, we are humble”he said, seriously. “Samsung is number one, the big brother, a strong leader”he continues. “We are learning, we still have a long road to go”.

“On the other hand, in the Laser TV market, we are the leader, we do not need to be humble, on the contrary, we must push innovation, push 8K, lead the way”he tells us with unfeigned enthusiasm. Pragmatism and voluntarism. Especially since Hisense has the patience of challengers who have time on their side…

An Empire in China, a solid rear base

Because Hisense is a giant of which we only see the visible part in Europe. In addition to diversifying in its original market into real estate, connected cities and cars, transport and smart buildings, energy, industrial molds, and even medical equipment, the Chinese giant has been number 1 in television sales for… 18 years. Also essential, Hisense is the favorite brand of the Chinese in this same sector for the eighth consecutive year. This sheds different light on its second or third place in the ranking of global television manufacturers, behind Samsung and TLC. Hisense is third on its brand alone in volume, but second if we add the sales of Toshiba, a brand that it also owns. Given the progress of the two Chinese giants in the television market, and also given Hisense's unshakeable dominant position in its market of 1.4 billion people, its arrival at first place seems, in a way, inevitable.

To achieve this level of recognition and market domination, Since around the mid-2000s, Hisense has applied the method that is now at the heart of its global advancement: quality and R&D, a policy that the slogan translates quite well. “True to our beginnings, creating the future”designed to accompany Hisense’s 55th anniversary.

Jerry Liu didn't tell us anything else during our meeting at the Hisense Tower, the company's new (obviously) intelligent headquarters in Qingdao. He tells us about the dual ambition of his group: “becoming a century-old company and the most trusted brand in the world”the first being able to be achieved only if the second is. Which means thinking ahead and preparing for it as soon as possible.

The future, always in sight

For the 2023 fiscal year, the group spent 5% of its revenues (which amounted to 202.2 billion yuan, or approximately 26.1 billion euros) on research and development and now has more than 9 000 engineers dedicated to research around the world and its 26 R&D centers.

This effort driven by innovation is not new, just remember that Hisense was the first in 2005 to develop and produce an image processor made in Chinaand, ten years later, he was the first Chinese player to design his processor for televisions.

Created to satisfy a future commercial need, Laser TVs are ultimately the latest materialization of this outlook turned towards the future, made of market anticipation, cutting-edge research and the art of optimizing research. This base of work on lasers is also used for Hisense's work on head-up laser displays in automobiles, for example. And then, as Dr. “the future is also holograms”. A distant future, certainly, but one that must be prepared now, without rushing, to be ready at the right time. Hisense is working on it, it wants to be the big brother, the leader in innovation and the market. He said it, it is here to last, to become a hundred years old.