Advances Fusion, February-March, 2016 Vol. 6, #2, February-March 2016, No. 56 An Acquisition for the Ages Midea is set to buy a majority interest in Toshiba’s home appliance business 1 Advanceswww.midea.com Fusion, February-March, 2016 ADVANCES Contents Going Green by Turning Dessert-Serving Robots, NEWSLINE Black PAGE 9 FUSION Olympic Champions, and Profit up 21% Year-on-Year Singing Water Heaters PAGE PAGE 3 CAC Makes Its Mark in Milan PAGE 10 15-16 LittleSwan Profit up over 30% Midea the Biggest Winner at China’s Most Generous PAGE 3 Appliances Awards PAGE 17 Person PAGE 10 Toshiba and Midea Sign Brand Licensing Agreement MOU on Sale of Toshiba’s FUSION with US Giant PAGE 11 Home Appliances Business PAGE 4 Water Heaters Gain North CHINA: Tomb-Sweeping Day PAGE 18 Robotics Businesses Vietnam Certification PAGE 12 Formally Open PAGE 5 Rice Cooker JV Formed in INDONESIA: Balispirit Festival PAGE 19 Four Product Categories Korea PAGE 12 Exhibited at Chicago Show INDIA: Kumbh Mela PAGE 20 PAGE 6 PEOPLE Divisions Lavished with Wuxi Factory’s Outstanding SPAIN: Moors & Christians International Design Awards Female Employee PAGE 13 Festival PAGE 21 PAGE 7 Midea-Carrier Announces AWE GERMANY: New Latin America CEO PAGE Walpurgichsnacht PAGE 22 8 Fridges That Give Nutrition Advice: The Brave New World of M-Smart PAGE 14 Midea Advances Newsletter is published monthly by Midea International Business. We welcome all Quote of the comments, suggestions and contributions of articles, as well as requests for subscription to our newsletter. You can reach us by email at: Month: [email protected] Address: ADVANCES, Midea International Business Midea HQ A single arrow is No. 6 Midea Road Beijiao, Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong easily broken, but P.R.C. 528311 not ten in a bun- Web: www.midea.com/global Phone: 0086 13266591586 dle. —Japanese Proverb 2 Advances Fusion, February-March, 2016 NEWSLINE Profit up 21% Year-on-Year By MIP brand, with revenue of RMB 16 billion (US$2.46 billion), lead- R evenue for Midea Group Co Ltd. (000333.SZ) in ing the way in eleven product categories. Strategic cooperation 2015 was RMB 139 billion (US$22.3 billion). Earnings per share with ecommerce giants JD and Alibaba helped Midea to one of were at RMB2.99 (US$0.48) and net profit attributable to share- the most lucrative days in its history on November 11. holders was RMB12.7 billion (US$2 billion), a year-on-year in- With its stability and high dividends, Midea Group has crease of 21 percent, according to Midea‟s annual report, which proved highly rewarding to shareholders. It plans to distribute a was published March 26. cash dividend of RMB12 (tax included) for every 10 shares of Last year Midea, which has long been a highly successful all shareholders resulting in a total cash dividend payment of original equipment manufacturer, increased investment in re- RMB5.1billion, and meanwhile increase shares by converting search and development, innovation, and brand building. The capital reserves into share capital on the basis of 5 shares for gross margin ratio was 25.92 percent, up 0.46 percentage points every 10 shares. on the previous year. Market cap exceeded US$20 billion, doubling since Sep- The group maintained its status as an industry leader in tember 2013, bringing substantial long-term benefits for the several product categories. The refrigerator business pulled in shareholder. RMB 11.4 billion (US$1.75 billion), a year-on-year increase of 17 With its large integrated logistics platform, Midea scored percent; the washing machine business saw revenue of RMB 12 many major achievement in the past year, including the launch billion (US$1.84 billion), a year-on-year increase of 20 percent; of the Mission air conditioner on four continents; the establish- the small appliances business earned RMB 35.4 billion (US$5.43 ment of its first R & D center in the United States; and entry billion), a year-on-year increase of 8 percent. into the Forbes 500. In ecommerce, Midea was China‟s top home appliances LittleSwan Profit up over 30% By Advances sales rose 27.38 percent. Good T he revenue of strategy and telling partner- Midea-owned washing ma- ships with giants such as Jing- chine brand LittleSwan was dong helped online sales in- US$2.02 billion in 2015, a crease 110 percent year-on- year-on-year increase of year. 21.54 percent, with profit at LittleSwan is among the most US$141 million, a year-on- valuable brands in China. The year increase of 31.65 per- company was established in cent. Due to an aggressive 1958, when it stood alone as marketing drive, sales in Chi- the first washing machine man- na reached US$1.42 billion, a ufacturer in China. It was ac- year-on-year increase of quired by Midea in 2010. 18.93 percent, while export 3 Advances Fusion, February-March, 2016 NEWSLINE Toshiba and Midea Sign MOU on Sale of By Midea Group Toshiba’s Home Appliance Business About Midea T oshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502, “Toshiba”) and Midea Group Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 000333, “Midea”) have Midea was established in 1968 and has grown into a lead- jointly announced that they have signed a Memorandum of ing global manufacturer of consumer appliances and heating, Understanding on Toshiba‟s sale to Midea of a majority inter- ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, with a est in its home appliance business (the “Business”). Under uniquely broad product range that includes air-conditioners, the envisaged agreement and upon completion of the transac- refrigerators, laundry appliances, kitchen appliances and various tion, the Business will continue to develop, manufacture and small home appliances. Midea had total revenues of US$23 bil- market white goods, such as refrigerators, washing machines, lion in 2014 and over 100,000 employees worldwide. vacuum cleaners and other small domestic appliances under To find out more about Midea, please visit http:// the Toshiba brand name. www.midea.com/global On December 21, 2015, Toshiba announced the “Toshiba Rebuilding Initiative”, which included the potential About Toshiba re-organization of the Business. Toshiba has subsequently carried out procedures to identify a trusted partner that would Toshiba Corporation, a Fortune Global 500 company, be committed to building on Toshiba‟s achievements to fur- channels world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and ther grow the Business. electrical product and systems into five strategic business do- Toshiba mains: Energy & Infra- and Midea have structure, Community built up a Solutions, Healthcare strong relation- Systems & Services, ship Electronic Devices & over 20 years in Components, and Life- a number of styles Products & Ser- areas, includ- vices. Guided by the ingcompressors, principles of The Basic small domestic Commitment of the appliances and Toshiba Group, inverters. This “Committed to People, proposed trans- Committed to the Fu- action will fur- ture”, Toshiba pro- ther cement and motes global opera- enhance the collaboration of two leading players with exten- tions and is contributing to the .realization of a world where sive expertise to create increased immediate and long term generations to come can live better lives. values for consumers, business partners, employees and share- Founded in Tokyo in 1875, today‟s Toshiba is at the heart holders. of a global network of over 580 consolidated companies em- Going forward, the parties will continue discussions in ploying 199,000 people worldwide, with annual sales surpassing good faith, towards a definitive agreement that is ex- 6.6 trillion yen (US$55 billion). pected to be finalized by the end of this month. To find out more about Toshiba, visit www.toshiba.co.jp/ index.htm 4 Advances Fusion, February-March, 2016 NEWSLINE Robotics Businesses Formally Open By Advances G uangdong Midea-Yaskawa Service Robotics Busi- ness Ltd. and Guangdong Yaskawa-Midea Industrial Industri- al Robotics Systems Ltd. formally launched on March 1 at Midea‟s Innovation Center in Shunde, China. This came seven months after Midea signed two joint ventures with Japanese automation giant Yaskawa, the service robotics business is 60.1 percent owned by Midea and the industrial robotics busi- ness is 51 percent owned by Yaskawa. ees. Seigo Nishikawa pledged to work hard with Midea to make the joint venture world famous. Zhen Shaoqiang promised to help Midea use its status as a globally significant manufacturer to become a world leader in smart home and automated manu- facturing technology. Sales of industrial robots in China increased from 4400 units in 2005 to 6.5 million in 2015. CEO of Guangdong Yaskawa-Midea Industrial Industri- The al Robotics Systems Seigo Nishikawa, and CEO of Guang- Inter- dong Midea-Yaskawa Service Robotics Zhen Shaoqiang at- national tended the opening ceremony along with around 50 employ- Federa- tion of Robot- ics pre- dicts that this will reach 10 million by 2017. The service robotics industry is still in its infancy. In 2014 the global industry was worth US$5.97 billion, yet by 2018 it is expected to reach US$39.4 billion. Service robots will become more affordable to middle class people in the coming years and have particularly strong potential in countries where the popula- tion is ageing and people need to be taken care of as they be- come less mobile. 5 Advances Fusion, February-March, 2016 NEWSLINE Four Product Categories Exhibited at By Shine Lee Chicago Show M idea exhibited its kitchen appliances, small appli- ances, refrigerators and washing machines at the 119th annual International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago. The three-day exhibition, which concluded March 8, features more than 2,200 exhibitors from over 45 countries.