Why is Haier making this aggressive move into developed countries?
Our development strategy is to explore the difficult markets first and then go into the easier markets. So our first efforts were to explore the European and American markets rather than the developing countries. There is still a very large distance between a Chinese enterprise and a European, American, or Japanese enterprise. Like most Chinese companies, at Haier we began by using foreign technology in our products. So many of us in China still have what I consider a mental impediment. That is, we feel it is very hard to go directly to developed markets and fight face-to-face with more advanced competitors. So most Chinese companies tend to go to the easy markets — the developing countries — first. Their objectives there are to both build up exports and to earn foreign currency. But at Haier, our objective is not just to earn hard currency but also to build up our company’s brand awareness and recognition. And in order to enter developed countries, our products have to pass through
