Haier Reaches Higher 海尔追求更高目标

弗兰克．唐

Haier Reaches Higher  海尔追求更高目标(弗兰克速成英语学院提供：416-838-6696）

导读：No foreign brand has ever made it big in the U．S．major－appliance market．But China’s top white－goods maker is determined to change that．没有一个外国品牌能在美国的大型家电市场上取得辉煌业绩。但是中国一个顶级家电制造商决意改变这种局面。

　　 Today Haier is the world's No.2 refrigerator maker, after Whirlpool, and has expanded into washing machines, air conditioners, small appliances, televisions, even com－puters and cellphones. It conquered its home market（29％ market share for refrigerators, 26％ for washing machines）by emphasizing product quality, studying customer needs, and relentlessly pressing its brand－－unusual strategies for China. Now it is spreading across Asia, opening factories in Indonesia and the Philippines. With global revenues topping＄7 billion, Haier has set its sights on Japan, Europe, and the U.S..

　　 As shelf after shelf of made in China cuddly toys attest, Chinese exports are hardly uncommon in the U.S.. But a Chinese company exporting under its own brand name is. "It's very difficult to set up a name brand,"says Zhang Ruimin, the company's chairman and chief executive. "But if you don't take this road, you will always work for others."

　　 The company isn't starting from scratch. Since it began exporting to the U. S. in the early 1990s, Haier has captured about half the U. S. market for compact refrigerators, the kind seen in college dorms or hotel rooms. It also pioneered electric wine cellars－－those inexpensive stand－alone cabinets for wine lovers who lack drafty chateaus in which to store their treasures. Haier racked up U. S. sales of about ＄200 million last year and says it earned a profit. To reach his goal of ＄1 billion in sales by 2005, Haier's sales manager in America Michael Jemal says, "we need core products to attain mass retail presence. " That means mainstream items like air conditioners and washing machines and, especially, family－sized refrigerators. But while Asian brand names have become common on everything from televisions to cars, the major－appliance market in the U. S. is still dominated by Whirlpool, General Electric, and Maytag. The biggest foreign player is Sweden's Electrolux, which got into U. S. kitchens by buying Frigidaire. The four companies together make 98％ of the nine million standard refrigerators sold in the U. S. each year. Haier's goal：10％ of that market by 2005.

　　 Whether he succeeds depends in large part on what's happening in a small town Camden, S. C. . In 2000, Haier became the first Chinese company to open a major manufacturing facility in the U. S. . In 2001, its first products went on sale. And this year the factory expects to turn out 200, 000 family－sized refrigerators. Haier has its reasons. First, it is expensive to ship big, hollow refrigerators from China. Second, Haier likes design and production to be close to its markets.

　　 Just as the Camden facility represents Haier's determination to fit into the American market, the company's sales headquarters in Manhattan represents another at－tempt to put down roots. Haier spent ＄１５million to buy the former Greenwich Bank building. Haier likes to see itself as different. "We can't just do me－too products, " says Jemal. "The competition is much more established, with great brands and distribution, so if we 're like them, we 'll be crushed. "

　　 As it ventures out of niches into the mass market, Haier is starting to do consumer advertising. Previously most of its ads were limited to brand promotion on billboards and airport luggage trolleys. Now it wants to reach shoppers directly, so that someday people will no longer wonder, "Haier who？" With good－quality products and low prices, it is not fanciful that Haier could break into America the way Sony did in the 1950s or Samsung did in the 1980s.

     现在海尔集团是继惠而浦之后的世界第二大冰箱生产企业，而且产品也扩展到了洗衣机、空调、小家电、电视甚至电脑和手机等领域。由于注重产品质量、研究顾客需要以及不遗余力地宣传品牌，海尔运用这些在国内非同寻常的策略征服了国内市场（海尔冰箱在中国占有的市场份额达到２９％，洗衣机的市场份额达到２６％）。目前，海尔已经扩展到整个亚洲并在印度尼西亚和菲律宾设厂。在其全球营业额超过７０亿美元后，海尔又瞄准了日本、欧洲和美国市场。

　　看看无数"中国制造"的玩具就知道，出口到美国的中国产品并不算少，但是一个中国公司以自己的品牌打入美国市场却凤毛麟角。海尔集团总裁张瑞敏说："创立一个名牌很难，但是如果不走这条路，你就只能永远为别人打工。"

　　然而海尔并非刚刚从零开始。自从９０年代初开始向美国出口产品以来，海尔已经占领了美国一半的小型冰箱市场，这种冰箱一般在大学宿舍和饭店房间里使用。此外海尔还尝试电子酒柜的生产，这是专门为那些苦于没有酒窖储存他们的宝贝的爱酒人士设计的可单独使用的便宜酒柜。海尔去年在美国的销售额达到约２亿美元，已经实现羸利。为了在２００５年实现年销售额１０亿美元的目标，海尔在美国的销售经理迈克·杰迈尔说："我们需要一些核心产品来实现大批量的零售。"这指的是包括空调、洗衣机，特别是家用冰箱等主流产品。尽管从电视到汽车亚洲拥有不少品牌产品，但是美国的大型家电市场仍是惠而浦、通用电器和梅塔格公司的天下。最大的外国家电公司是瑞典的伊莱克斯有限公司，它在收购美国的弗里吉戴尔公司后打入美国厨房用品市场。每年在美国卖出的９００万台标准冰箱中，９８％都是由这４大公司生产的。海尔的目标就是到２００５年占有１０％的市场。

　　海尔能否成功在很大程度上取决于南卡罗来纳州坎姆顿小镇上发生的一切。２０００年，海尔公司在这里建厂，从而成为第一个在美国建立大型工厂的中国公司。２００１年它的首批产品被推向市场，今年这家工厂预计将生产２０万台家用冰箱。海尔在美国建厂有两个原因，第一，要把空空的大冰箱从中国运到美国花费太高。第二，海尔喜欢在接近市场的地方设计并生产产品。

　　坎姆顿的工厂表明海尔决定融入美国市场。而公司在曼哈顿的销售总部也表明海尔要在美国扎根。这个总部是海尔耗资１５００万美元购买的前格林尼治银行的大楼。海尔喜欢与众不同。杰迈尔说："我们生产产品不能跟着别人跑。与那些大品牌和它们已有的销售量竞争，决非易事，如果我们模仿那些大品牌，就等于自取灭亡。"

　　当海尔从缝隙市场迈向大众市场时，海尔开始进行直接针对消费者的广告宣传。以前，海尔的大部分促销广告都局限于广告牌和机场的行李车。现在公司希望直接面对商场里的顾客，这样人们就不会再问："海尔是谁？"由于海尔产品质量过硬、价格低廉，因此其产品像５０年代的索尼和７０年代的三星一样打入美国市场并不是幻想。