Haier is best known for appliances. It’s the no.1 global brand, owner of the Candy brand in Europe and Hoover in the UK.
I, myself, was unfamiliar with the name before attending its One Vision Conference in Liverpool; I’m definitely aware of who they are now.
That unfamiliarity perhaps represents the hill Haier has to climb in the UK. In the not-too-distant future, it is about to jump out of the frying pan and into the living room with the launch of their first TVs.
And it has very ambitious plans.
Higher and Haier
Haier unveiled three TVs in the K85, S80, and S90 (the latter two might raise an eyebrow or two at Samsung with those model names). These three TVs follow Haier’s approach of good, better, and best, a narrative that helps them onboard customers for the experience that suits them.
Want a simple TV experience? That’s what the K85 is for: a TV that isn’t driven by specs but aims to offer value. The S80 is aimed at families and kids, the picture quality receives a boost from the K85’s LED to a QLED screen; and the sizes get bigger too (up to 85-inches).
Then we get to the S90 – the ‘best’ in the range for the time being – featuring Haier’s Homey AI chip for picture processing with “enhanced” motion handling, gaming modes, and Dolby Atmos sound system tuned by British hi-fi brand KEF (though I saw a soundbar system included with the S90, so perhaps this is not a built-in system). They all feature Fire TV and Freely, providing over Wi-Fi access to the UK’s favourite apps.
Haier’s goals are ambitious, given that it has no previous experience in the TV market.
It views the TV market as a “major growth pillar”, aiming for 50% of its European growth to be driven by TVs in the next three years. Similar to TCL a few years ago, Haier understands it is playing catch-up in UK and needs to build up a presence. What impressed most about the presentations was the confidence they exuded, but then hubris does come before a fall…
But Haier seems to have at least the basics figured out. It has a roadmap in terms of launch with 2026/27 primed for launches of Mini LED and Quantum Dot Mini-LED models. It already has ideas about (maybe) launching 163-inch Micro LED TVs, and they’re in the process of establishing a base in Poland to cut down lead times to the UK in terms of shipping.
Can it deliver on the promises? Will it be a case of too much, too quickly? We’ll have to wait and see.
The shifting sands of the TV market…
As I mentioned when it emerged that TCL was buying a controlling stake in Sony’s TV business, the sands of the TV market are shifting in ways that I don’t think we’ve seen before.
Japanese giants such as Sony and Panasonic have had to seek help from Chinese manufacturers who offer more scale and efficiency. Samsung and LG have found their market share eaten into by Hisense and TCL, both of whom started out in the UK offering value-focused offerings before leaping into the premium market.
Haier senses there was an opening in the market for another player to exist, and to be fair, there is one.
The market share of both Samsung and LG had declined, and Haier believes the market is shifting towards Chinese brands. While Samsung and LG are about a combine 50% of the UK market, the Chinese brands have a market share that by the end of 2026 will inch somewhere close to 30%.
Haier is most similar to TCL in that they’re playing catch-up, but like its performance in the home appliance area, this isn’t an obstacle but a challenge to be overcome. As one of those ‘everything’ Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Huawei that have many toes dipped in many waters, Haier has experience across a broad range of markets. It’s not approaching the TV market with blinkers on, but it believes it has a compelling hand.
It remains to be seen if they can deliver on the talk. There’s been no mention of pricing, which will be the most important factor. Haier talked about not wanting to be dragged into a price war and undercutting its competitors as TCL has done, but can it offer a premium experience that customers will want?
If I had a quibble about Haier, it’s that what they showed was nothing new; we’ve seen on an annual basis TVs of this type. When Sky entered the TV market, it struggled with TV performance but it offered a unique proposition that no other brand could match. It remains to be seen what compelling hook Haier can offer as it looks to make a splash in the TV market.
