Appliance company Haier – which also owns the Hoover and Candy brands – has announced it is changing its name, in addition to unveiling a new connected smart appliance system that runs on solar energy.
Going forwards, Haier will now be known as “Haier Smart Home”. According to Haier Smart Home’s chief commercial officer, Jim McEwan, the new name reflects the company’s ongoing focus on the emerging smart home appliance sector.
He commented: “Haier is the largest manufacturer of domestic appliances in the world, and we’ve ranked number one for the last 15 years. We have global scale behind us, and that’s led to a lot of technological advances.
“We’re now Haier Smart Home, so we’re starting to bring together our brands and our platforms to really take the business in a new direction. There’s a new mindset now about what we stand for as an organisation, and what we want to bring to the market, and that’s all about connectivity.”
McEwan also explained that the company’s focus going forwards will be to establish its position as the leading household name for appliances. He explained: “Haier, as a brand, is not the most well-known brand in the market – we know that. We have a job to do around raising the recognition of the brand. To do that, we know we need to invest, so this year, we’re going to be investing more money in the Haier brand than ever before.”
According to McEwan, this will involve increasing the company’s media spending by 400% compared to last year. Part of this spending will be distributed across television advertising, and continual sponsorship of major tennis tournaments, such as the French Open.
The company also revealed it has developed a new connected smart home appliance product called the Smart Cube that harvests solar energy to run an entire household’s products.
Haier says that the Smart Cube can be installed in users’ homes, and works as an inverter and battery for solar power, which is then converted to energy and used to run connected home appliances, which can be controlled through the company’s app. Solar energy collected from the Smart Cube can also be used to power a home-EV charger.
Haier Smart Home’s internet of things (IoT) and ecosystems director, Leon Doyle, explained: “All of these new products are connected and great, but we really need a heartbeat and a brain for the home to manage it all. That’s why we’re introducing our brand new patented Smart Cube.
“We’ve got solar energy powering the inverter and the battery in a completely stackable module – but there’s also an EV charger in there. So instead of installing three separate components, you can now have that in half the time and half the cost.
“Once the sun has fed the inverter and set for the day, it will power the home, and every single of our new appliances are solar panel ready. That means we can individually select our appliances to only use the cycle when the sun is shining, meaning it’s completely free. Users can also make money by filling up the battery and selling that back to the grid, and charge their cars for free.
“We’re the only manufacturer to provide absolutely everything, turnkey, in one app – so that’s one app, one home, and one manufacturer. We’re really thrilled with this new launch, it’s a game-changer, and it’s not been seen before.”
Last week, Haier also announced a new appointment to its senior leadership team, naming Francesco Di Valentin as its new chief business officer. In addition, April also saw Neil Tunstall begin his role as Haier Europe’s new CEO