Midea (company)
 | |
| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electrical Appliances |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Founder(s) | He Xiangjian |
| Headquarters | Shunde, Guangdong, China |
| Area served | People's Republic of China |
| Key people |
Paul Fang (Chairman) Huang Jian (President & CEO): |
| Products | Household and Commercial Appliances |
| Employees | 135,000 |
| Website |
Midea global website (English) Midea China website (Chinese) |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as |
SZSE: 000527 SZSE Component Index SSE Composite Index |
| Area served | People's Republic of China |
| Key people | Paul Fang (Chairman & President) |
| Revenue |
 CN¥ 68.07 billion (2012)[1] |
| Operating income |
CN¥ 4.74 billion (2012)[1] |
| Net income |
CN¥ 4.13 billion (2012)[1] |
| Total assets |
CN¥ 60.90 billion (2012)[1] |
| Total equity |
 CN¥ 27.39 billion (2012)[1] |
Midea Group (Chinese: 美的集团; pinyin: Měidí jítuán) is a privately held Chinese electrical appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Shunde, Guangdong, China. As of 2013, the firm employs approximately 135,000 people in China and overseas.[2] It should not be confused with its publicly listed subsidiary, GD Midea Holding (Chinese: 美的电器; pinyin: Měidí diànqì, SZSE: 000527).
History
Starting with only CN¥5,000 to open a workshop for the production of bottle lids in Beijiao, Shunde in 1968, He Xiangjian (何享健), the founder of the company, has since turned Midea into one of the most successful private companies in China, with sales revenue for the entire Group declared at US$22.2 billion for 2011.[2]
After its initial period of manufacturing bottle lids and car parts, the company focused on the manufacture of fully finished goods; specifically, electric fans beginning in 1980. Five years later, Midea produced its first air conditioner, a product which remains as the core component of Midea's business today. Over the following 15 years though, the company gradually expanded into a wide variety of other electrical home appliances, including refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves.[3]
In 1993, the subsidiary which handled the core businesses of the company, known as "GD Midea Holding", proceeded with a public offering of shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.[3] The GD Midea's parent company, known today as "Midea Group", remained a privately held company. As of April 2013, however, the company has announced its intention to introduce a newly consolidated Midea Group (including the erstwhile GD Midea) to the public through a future IPO.[4]
Midea opened its first overseas production facilities in 2007, in the Vietnam Industrial Park outside of Ho Chi Minh City. This would mark the beginning of a period of international expansion for the company. In the very next year, Midea formed a manufacturing joint venture with Belarusian microwave producer Horizont, in order to break into the various CIS markets.[3]
2010 would see the first of several overseas joint ventures between Midea and American air conditioner manufacturer, Carrier Corporation. Their first joint venture is based in Cairo, Egypt, under the name of Miraco Carrier. The next year, Midea and Carrier continued on this course, forming a collection of closely networked joint venture companies in Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and another one separately in India.[3]
In August 2012, the board of Midea Group announced that the company's founder, He Xiangjian, had informed them of his resignation as Chairman of Midea Group. GD Midea Holding Chairman and President, Paul Fang, was subsequently named as the new Chairman of Midea Group.[5]
Products
Midea's main business is producing home appliances and commercial air conditioners. It sells products domestically under its own name, while the majority of its export business is as an OEM and ODM for many well-known global brands. In recent years, Midea has begun launching its own brand in a growing number of foreign markets, such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, India, Egypt, and most countries in southeast Asia.[6][7][8][9][10]
The company's main product category is air conditioners, both residential and commercial. It manufactures other major home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers. Midea also offers a wide range of smaller appliances, such as microwave ovens, kettles, water dispensers, and vacuum cleaners.[11]
Beyond Midea's eponymous brand name, the company also employs a series of other brands. The Little Swan brand was adopted when Midea acquired the Little Swan company in 2008. Little Swan products are mostly laundry and refrigeration appliances. Hualing is a brand used by Midea for air conditioners and refrigerators, and was also adopted in 2008. MDV is Midea's brand for its line of commercial air conditioners, active since 1999.
Research and development
Recently, Midea has maintained a policy of scaling R&D by consistently reinvesting 3% of company-wide revenues back into research and development efforts.[2]
In terms of intellectual property, Midea has been pursuing registration of its achievements in innovation more recently than before: the number of patent and utility applications made by Midea between 2000 and 2004 grew from 2 to more than 40.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "GD Midea Holding Annual Report 2012". GD Midea Holding Co., Ltd. December 31, 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Midea Group Overview". Midea Group. 1 January 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Midea Group History". Midea Group. 1 January 2012.
- ↑ "China appliance firm perseveres for IPO". Marketwatch.com. 18 April 2013.
- ↑ "Midea Founder and Chairman Resigns from Midea Group; Board of Directors Elects Guangdong Midea Electric President as Successor". Midea Group. 25 August 2012.
- ↑ "Midea Carrier Brazil".
- ↑ "Midea Carrier Argentina".
- ↑ "Midea Carrier Chile".
- ↑ "Carrier Midea India".
- ↑ "Miraco Carrier (Egypt)".
- ↑ "Midea Group Products". Midea Group. 1 January 2012.
- ↑ "Midea Group: Profile, Internationalization, R&D, Patents". chinese-champions.com. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
External links
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