HAIER TO INCREASE FOCUS AND ADDRESS DEMAND FOR HIGH-END AND MID-RANGE PRODUCTS IN NEW DUAL-BRAND STRATEGY.

Sanyo acquisition to help company strengthen position in Malaysia and other regional markets.

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 May 2012 – Haier Electrical Appliances (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Haier) recently announced it will be positioning itself in the high-end and mid-range home appliance market for Malaysia and parts of Southeast Asia through a new dual-brand strategy.

Following Haier’s recent acquisition of Sanyo Sales & Services (M) Sdn Bhd’s (Sanyo) home appliance business in Malaysia, as well as other similar acquisitions in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan, this dual-brand strategy will see Haier, the world’s No.1 major appliances brand, continue to use the Haier brand simultaneously with the Sanyo brand in Malaysia. This dual-brand strategy will be emulated across Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.“Following the acquisition, Sanyo will transfer all its operations as well as customer care and after-sales service facilities in each of the markets to Haier. This will help us considerably strengthen both brands in all segments within these countries,” said Mr. Du Jingguo, vice-president of Haier Group.

Haier’s new strategy and direction for Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines will be spearheaded by a new entity called Haier Asia International (HAI) whose Asia headquarters is in Japan.

The decision to acquire Sanyo in these markets was a strategic move that took into account the strengths of both parties.

“This acquisition does not simply bring together the resources from Haier and Sanyo but one where we can create a synergy by combining the research and development (R&D) efforts and market resources of both companies. It allows Haier to augment our R&D capabilities and build upon Sanyo’s manufacturing bases across Japan and Southeast Asia to better serve the needs of local consumers,” Mr. Du continued.

“Moving forward, we will continue to serve all the market segments as we have been doing all this while but now we have additional resources to step up our focus on the high-end and mid-range market,” Mr. Du, who is also president of HAI, added.

According to Mr. Atsushi Jinguji, managing director of Haier Malaysia, this increasing demand for high-end and mid-range products in Malaysia is fueled by the country’s stable GDP growth combined with a growing middle class with rising disposable income.

“There is a demand for high-end and mid-range home appliances in Malaysia and we are positioning ourselves to meet these demands,” Mr. Jinguji said.

Haier will increase its efforts in R&D to create new high-end and mid-range products for markets like Malaysia through the setting up of two new R&D centers in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan.

"Sanyo Electric has already earned a strong reputation for its R&D, product line and marketing network in Japan and Southeast Asia. Our dual-brand strategy was designed to leverage Sanyo Electric's competitive advantages while enhancing the new markets' offerings through Haier's strengths in innovation, quality, design and product reliability. We will bring more high-quality choices to consumers in these markets to enrich their lives," said Mr. Du.

"As the global No.1 major appliances brand, Haier's goal is to be among the top three brands in these markets. The Sanyo Electric acquisition will help us achieve this goal faster," added Mr. Du.