Haier Unveils New R&D base in Kyoto

Qingdao, CHINA – April 24, 2012 - Haier recently unveiled its new research and development center for washing machines in Kyoto. The center is one of Haier's two R&D centers in Japan, following the refrigerator development centre in Gunma Area. The Kyoto center will oversee product design and functional improvements for new washing machines,which can then be manufactured in any of Haier global factories based on local market demand. The center has about 100 engineers, many of whom came from SANYO following Haier’s acquisition in 2011.

Haier, which has had the world's largest market share in refrigerators and washing machines for the past three years, has been utilizinghuman resources and technologies from SANYO as key assets to develop washing machines that will be sold in Japan and worldwide.Haier plans to actively add new washing machines to the high-end AQUA brand sold in Japan.

Du Jingguo, president of Haier’s Asian headquarters in Osaka, said “Japan is already world-renowned for its state-of-the-art technology, so we are confident that products designed for this competitive market will succeed globally as well. We look forward to further enhancing the value of Haier’s products through our SANYO acquisition.”