Westinghouse Electric increases its investment in China and aims to become a leading mid-to-high-end Internet brand manufacturer

This company has many inventions that have changed the world, including the first hydro turbine, the first electric train, the first electric iron, the first fully automatic frost-free refrigerator... . The most people mentioned now is the originator of nuclear power.

Even "The Big Bang Theory" and the recently popular "The Deadly Woman" have a close relationship with this company.

That's rightWestinghouse Electric. It was such a company that it did not officially announce the introduction of its small appliance business into China until 2015. Three years later, in 2018, Westinghouse Electric brought kitchen and bathroom appliances into the Chinese market. Why is this? Why did Westinghouse Electric start to increase its investment in the Chinese market today?

　　Westinghouse founder Westinghouse

Westinghouse Electric has a connection with China because of electricity, and has begun to increase its investment in China because of electricity.

During its 100th anniversary, Westinghouse Electric has been doing business around electricity. At the same time, because of "electricity", Westinghouse Electric has long been connected with China. In 1945, Westinghouse Electric signed an agreement with the then National Government Resources Committee to accept more than 70 Chinese scientific and technological personnel to go to Westinghouse for study and training. Among them, Chu Yinghuang, Ding Shunian and others became the backbone forces in the development of China's electrical technology.

　　Nuclear Power Island using Westinghouse Electric AP1000 technology

When Sino-US diplomatic relations were normalized in the 1970s, Chinese nuclear power engineering and technicians were sent to the United States to study, and the company that studied was Westinghouse Electric. In the 1980s, China also introduced key power generation equipment such as steam turbine units from Westinghouse. After that, almost all the pressurized water reactor technology and supporting facilities used in the construction of nuclear power plants in my country came from Westinghouse Electric.

This is also the reason why Eric Sobczak, global vice president of Westinghouse Electric, told reporters that "the old engineers of China's State Grid are very familiar with Westinghouse Electric."

　　Eric Sobczak, Global Vice President, Westinghouse Electric

It can be said that for Westinghouse Electric, those in the field of China's electrical industry are the earliest fans of Westinghouse Electric in China. They have recognized Westinghouse Electric's century-old history and advanced technology. This played a key role in Westinghouse Electric's decision to fully introduce its small appliance business into the Chinese market in 2015.

From this incident, we can also see the logic of Westinghouse Electric in making products and opening up the market. In history, this company, founded in 1886, has been competing with General Electric and Edison for the next half century, and in the competition, it formed Westinghouse's own product planning logic: "It is based on power generation, transmission and distribution and power consumption."

Therefore, in order to promote AC power, Westinghouse, founder Westinhouse, and Tesla, created a complete AC power system. From the first hydro-wheel generator to the first train driven by electrically.

　 Westinhouse is aware of the inventor Tesla and takes the inventor under Westinghouse Electric

Back to the current action of Westinghouse in the Chinese market, it also basically revolves around the above logic. Earlier, Westinghouse has opened up the market for itself through "electricity" and has completed the preparation of the first two steps: first, the use of technology and supporting services in the nuclear power plant and the power plant has made Chinese consumers feel the existence of Westinghouse Electric, and the second is the application of power transmission equipment, allowing more Chinese users to feel the convenience brought to them by electricity.

Now Westinghouse Electric has decided to introduce small appliances and kitchen and bathroom appliances into the Chinese market and officially complete the third layout. That is, Westinghouse has a wide range of strong and weak current products, consumer products, commercial products, and industrial products, so that all involved products can be related to electricity, which enhances users' stickiness.

At present, Westinghouse has extended 18 industry categories such as refrigerators, washing machines, smoke stoves, air conditioners, fresh air, etc. in the Chinese market, involving about 1,000 products. In addition, Westinghouse has its own deep technical accumulation and brand history in the above personal appliances and home solutions.

In 1940, Westinghouse launched the first automatic washing machine that can be installed on the wall; in 1946, Westinghouse invented the first electric clothes dryer; in 1949, Westinghouse launched the first fully automatic frost-free refrigerator; in 1950, Westinghouse's first portable temperature-controlled electric oven was released...

Similarly, Westinghouse has continuously increased its investment in the Chinese market and has also seen the scale and development prospects of the Chinese market. Eric Sobuzak, global vice president of Westinghouse Electric, said bluntly in his communication with reporters: "In the past few years of entering the Chinese market, Westinghouse kitchen appliances have grown twice a year."

Data shared by Westinghouse Electric in the exchange shows that during this year's 618, Westinghouse wall breakers ranked 6th in the sub-category, electric fans ranked 2nd, and electric ovens ranked 9th. Moreover, the five small categories of products sold online by Westinghouse Electric have entered the top 10 of the Chinese market.

This shows that Westinghouse small home appliances have gained a foothold in the Chinese market. In 2018, Tmall even awarded Westinghouse Electric's Best International Brand Cooperation Award. In this regard, Westinghouse Electric stated that this is the recognition of itself by the market and its partners.

In addition, China's economy is currently transforming from exports and investment to a large environment driven by domestic demand and consumption, it is rare for companies like Westinghouse. Because of the huge market base of consumer economy + 1.4 billion people, Westinghouse has brought users' consumption upgrade demand and diversified market demand.

As a result, Westinghouse Electric continued to increase its investment in the Chinese market. As of 2019, Westinghouse Electric has set up multiple industrial parks in Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Nanjing and Guangdong, China. China's mainstream first- and second-tier cities have been covered, and these places are also the first places where China's consumption upgrade began.

According to data released by the China Home Appliances Research Institute and the National Electrical Appliance Industry Information Center, the size of China's home appliance market reached 810.4 billion yuan in 2018, an increase of 1.9% year-on-year. Moreover, the kitchen appliance field involved in Westinghouse Electric is an important growth point in the current Chinese home appliance market. That is, China's kitchen and bathroom products performed well in 2018, with an annual scale of 176.9 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 1.5%.

　　Westinghouse Electric aims to become a leading mid-to-high-end Internet brand manufacturer

Westinghouse Electric has begun to make efforts in the Chinese market, and naturally, the localization of Westinghouse Electric products and market competition issues cannot be avoided. Eric Sobuzak, global vice president of Westinghouse Electric, pointed out that each market still has a different concept of a brand. In order to ensure product consistency, Westinghouse Electric will also carry out localized research and development and functional configurations in the Chinese market.

As a result, Westinghouse Electric adopted a different approach to conduct business in the Chinese market. That is, a way to share intellectual property rights and jointly develop. Westinghouse Electric also has its own considerations for this strategy, because this can ensure that Westinghouse Electric and its partners have consistent goals and brand consistency. Another point is that the entrepreneurial spirit of partners has become the competitive advantage of the entire business and market.

At the same time, this is also related to Westinghouse Electric's influence in China and international markets. Eric Sobuzak, global vice president of Westinghouse Electric, believes that product quality and design are always the first priority. The brand needs to provide consumers with a basic guarantee in order to gain more trust and support; secondly, Westinghouse Electric has a lot of work to do in marketing, and has improved its brand image through some active activities, such as sponsoring this technology summit organized by local Chinese and participating in China's AWE exhibition, in the hope that more people can understand Westinghouse's technical background, products and history, and continuously enhance its brand influence.

　 Westinghouse Electric has unveiled all new products at the 2019 AWE Exhibition

Especially with partners, Westinghouse Electric has created several popular products. And hit products have become an important way for Westinghouse to open up the Chinese market and enhance its reputation and influence. Moreover, from the conversation with Westinghouse Electric, we also learned that Westinghouse will have more popular products in the future.

Eric Sobuzak, global vice president of Westinghouse Electric, gave an example, for example, Westinghouse Electric is developing corresponding heating equipment for the winter of the southern Chinese market; in the future, it focuses on professional kitchen air conditioning and other subdivided products; and Westinghouse also saw the trend of southern Chinese users starting to accept dryer products in order to cope with the rainy season.

Of course, all the above cannot be separated from the support of partners, but you cannot become a Westinghouse Electric partner at will. During the interview, Westinghouse Electric told reporters: "Only after passing the assessment of capabilities and market experience, can we find partners that are highly integrated with Westinghouse Electric."

In addition to the above, spiritual harmony is also what the Westing House values. For this brand history and visiting and studying at the Westinghouse headquarters are also an important compulsory course for partners.

Regarding the issue of competition, Eric Sobuzak, global vice president of Westinghouse Electric, talks more about the keyword "century-year brand". In the view of Westinghouse Electric, the "Centenary Westinghouse" determines that the product positioning is mainly mid-to-high-end. If there is really head-on competition, Westinghouse will adopt a strategy of correcting its product line, and it is possible to even cut off a certain product line. The purpose is to ensure the consistency of the entire brand in the overall price and tone.

Faced with the rapidly growing Internet brands in the domestic market, Westinghouse Electric believes that the ecological chain practice of Internet brands is worth learning from. However, in terms of brand positioning, Internet brands are interconnected by younger consumers, while Westinghouse is interconnected by mid-to-high-end consumers.

Currently, Internet products are also seeking transformation towards the mid-to-high-end market, but in comparison, Westinghouse Electric can have more advantages than Internet brands when transforming the Internet with its existing mid-to-high-end attributes.

Therefore, Westinghouse Electric mentioned its positioning for the future: "As long as Westinghouse has a clear positioning and accurate position, it will become a leading mid-to-high-end Internet brand manufacturer in the future." Therefore, online channel layout is becoming increasingly important for Westinghouse Electric.

In March this year, Westinghouse Electric first launched its main products on the JD platform. Judging from the data, the current contribution rate of e-commerce to home appliance sales has further increased, exceeding 40% for the first time in the first half of this year, an increase of 7.5 percentage points from the same period last year; among which JD.com ranked first among all-channel single retailers in my country's home appliance market with a share of 22.7%.

As for the changes to the home appliance industry after the popularization of 5G networks and the maturity of AI technology. Westinghouse Electric believes that the era of traditional production of products and selling products to make a difference is over. In the future, products may be free, but they may be a way to make profits by serving.

　 Written at the end

Although Westinghouse Electric, a century-old company, was introduced to China in 2015, it was not too late because China's economy is currently undergoing a transformation from domestic consumption to drive economic growth, which will bring more possibilities to Westinghouse Electric. At the same time, with its century-old inheritance, Westinghouse Electric also hopes to bring advanced technological products to Chinese consumers while introducing another new life experience. It can be said that Westinghouse has found a tacit understanding between the Chinese market and Chinese consumers.

Westinghouse Electric, a century-old company that started out with electricity and has become a brilliant company, will naturally follow the trend to accelerate its layout in the Chinese market, and the Chinese market will also become a new turning point for Westinghouse.