Midea Group Co. Ltd. history, company profile (overview) and corporate video
Midea Group is an electric appliances company headquartered in Beijiao town, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong, China.
The company operates through the following business sectors: Smart Home, Electro-Mechanical, Building Technologies, Robotics & Automation, and Digital Innovation.
HISTORY
In 1968, Mr. He Xiangjian, the founder of Midea Group, led a group of 23 local residents of the town of Beijiao in Guangdong province in raising a total of 5,000 RMB, to establish a bottle lid production workshop.
In 1980, the company began production of electric fans, marking its entry into household appliance manufacturing.
In 1985, Midea started the production of residential air conditioners.
In 1990, the company signed an agreement with Toshiba to develop technology and began production of split-style air conditioners.
In 1993, Midea began production of rice cookers and appliance motors.
In 1998, Midea acquired the Macro-Toshiba compressor factory (later renamed GMCC-Guangdong Midea Toshiba Compressor Corporation).
In 2001, the company initiated several product lines such as microwaves, VRFs, water dispensers, and dishwashers.
In 2004, The company acquired Hefei Royalstar and formed a joint venture with Toshiba-Carrier to produce air conditioning products. It also formed a joint venture with Chongqing General, for manufacturing and distributing commercial air conditioning systems.
In 2005, the company acquired Jiangsu Chunhua Electric Group, a vacuum cleaner manufacturer from China.
In 2008, the company acquired a controlling share in a publicly-listed appliances manufacturer, Little Swan. It also formed a joint venture in Belarus with microwave manufacturer Horizont.
In 2010, the company acquired a 32.5% share of Egypt-listed air conditioning manufacturer Miraco, a joint venture with Carrier Corporation.
In 2011, Midea formed a joint venture partnership with Carrier in Latin America and India.
In 2013, Midea Group was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
In 2016, Midea acquired 80.1 % equity of Toshiba Lifestyle Products & Services Corporation and 80% equity of Clivet.
In 2017, Midea acquired 94.55% equity of KUKA and 79.37% equity of SERVOTRONIX, entering the robotics and automation industry.
With more than 150,000 employees, 200 subsidiaries, and over 60 overseas branches, Midea Group is considered one of the largest producers of robots and appliances in the world. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Largest Public Companies in the World.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and www.midea-group.com.
**Video published on YouTube by “Midea UK“