HAIER EXPANDING SALES CHANNELS IN PH AMID DEMAND

China-based electronics and home appliances firm Haier is planning to reach more buyers in the Philippines by tapping 300 to 400 new sales channels this year.

“The overall market is too big. We don’t cover every corner,” Haier Philippines chief executive officer Yan Xuhong said in an interview with the Inquirer last week.

He said the expansion, which would bring the company’s sales channels to nearly 1,500, was in answer to the strong demand they have seen in the Philippine market for their products, noting in particular the refrigerator segment. Haier’s sales channels include appliance stores inside malls and standalone outlets.

“In the past six years, our compound annual growth rate is 76 percent. Our sales volume last year was 17 times what we had in 2018,” he said.

The Haier executive said as customers sought a better quality of life, so too was there a corresponding increase in demand for appliances.

“For example, air conditioners were a luxury in the past. But slowly it has become a basic necessity because it is so hot in the Philippines,” he said.

Haier launched in the country last week new split-type inverter variants.

The air conditioners’ control system, called the UV Cool Connect Pro, allows users to manage the product via Wi-Fi from any location. It also incorporates ultraviolet sterilization technology to sanitize contaminants in the air.

Xuhong said they were also planning to expand their product lineup in the near future. He mentioned they have begun selling solar panels to select clients.