Hisense presents its global strategy

Hisense’s overseas revenue has more than quadrupled from $3.5 billion to $12 billion since 2016, Chairman Fisher Yu said


Hisense  unveiled its ambitious growth plans at the Partner Conference in Berlin, held on the eve of the Euro 2024™ finals. Fisher Yu, President of Hisense Group , gave a keynote address titled “Beyond Champion, Beyond Glory” to discuss the latest updates on Hisense’s brand enhancement strategy, new product lineup, and user-centric services. Fisher Yu also discussed future plans for optimizing its industrial structure and the brand’s commitment to continued global expansion during his presentation  his keynote address, Yu emphasized Hisense’s commitment to developing new features and products based on customer feedback to ensure continued growth in the global market. The company is also working to create smart home experiences with appliances that go beyond individual products and features by more comprehensively considering user use cases through product planning, R&D, and marketing, as well as focusing on platform compatibility and integration options, connectivity, security, and AI, to create smarter products that anticipate and exceed user needs.Committed to global expansion, Hisense is strengthening six local operation centers to support future growth. Building on its existing strong network of 26 R&D centers, 34 industrial parks and manufacturing bases, Hisense’s “Think Global, Act Local” approach leverages local talent and strengthens local R&D, manufacturing and supply chains. This enables Hisense to meet specific local needs with tailored products through global R&D investments.

Elica invests in its future

Elica is forging ahead with its strategic investments, despite facing current market challenges. The launch of Elica’s expanded product line, dubbed “Extraordinary Cooking,” has been well-received by the media. Yet, the overall market conditions remain tough, and this is reflected in Elica’s first-quarter sales figures: a turnover of 117 million euros marks an 8.5% decrease from the same period in 2023, albeit a 4% increase from the preceding quarter. Despite a 6.9% uptick in the US market, it does not offset the sales slump across Europe and beyond, in both volume and value.

The Cooking division saw a 6.2% downturn, impacting even the Own brands segment, which had previously shown robust performance. The Motors division fared even worse, with an 18% decline.

Price pressures have significantly eroded profit margins, with adjusted EBITDA plummeting by 40% compared to the first quarter of the previous year. The net income also took a hit, landing at 440 thousand euros, a steep fall from the 3.9 million euros recorded in the first quarter of 2023.

Nevertheless, Elica’s leadership remains undeterred, securing a 70 million euro loan to fuel future growth initiatives.

Whirlpool Corporation named one of Fortune’s Most Innovative Companies for 2024

Whirlpool Corporation has been recognized by Fortune as one of America’s Most Innovative Companies for the second year. America’s Most Innovative Companies honors those transforming industries from the inside out and celebrates companies that have demonstrated success across three areas, product innovation, process innovation, and innovation culture.SlimTech™ insulation technology, the first vacuum insulated structure (VIS) technology in a refrigerator in the North American market, was launched in November and represents one of the biggest innovations in refrigeration in the past 50 years. Other recent product innovations from Whirlpool Corp. include the KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker, the Performance Kitchen Lineup from Maytag and flush microwave hood combinations across the brand portfolio.

The company also introduced its plan to bring revolutionary induction downdraft cooktop technology to the North American market and the installation of more onsite renewable energy solutions at its Ohio manufacturing plants.

To develop the list, Fortune partnered with Statista Inc., a leading provider of market and consumer data, to survey internal and external stakeholders who have direct exposure to company processes, products, and culture. Statista also worked with LexisNexis PatentSight and used their platform to analyze the quantity and value of a company’s patents