Sampo, Haier sign pact to sell each other's products

Taiwan's Sampo Corp (聲寶) and Haier Group Co (海爾), China's largest home-appliance maker, signed an agreement to sell each other's products, helping to push the two brands to ethnic-Chinese customers all over the world.

Sampo will sell Haier's televisions, refrigerators, air-conditioners, and washing machines in Taiwan. In return, Haier will sell Sampo's digital video disc loaders, liquid crystal display monitors and air-conditioner compressors, the two companies said.

"We cannot be global brands on our own," said Haier's chairwoman Yang Mianmian (楊綿綿) yesterday during an agreement-signing ceremony in Hong Kong. "We now want to tap each other's strengths, and complement each other's products to attain that global reach."

"We hope to make both Sampo and Haier into the biggest brands among [ethnic] Chinese customers around the world," said Sampo Chief Executive Officer Ho Heng-Chung (何恆春).

Sampo's accord with Haier comes after the Taiwan company survived a takeover bid in January by its larger rival, Teco Electric & Machinery Co (東元電機).

Teco last month scrapped the NT$24.2 billion (US$690 million) takeover bid because of differences in the corporate strategies of the two companies. Teco added phone equipment to its range of household appliances, while Sampo is shifting its focus to cheaper manufacturing centers such as China.

As for Haier, the agreement is the company's second tie-up with an offshore appliance maker in two months. Haier and Japan's Sanyo Electric Co agreed on Jan. 8 to sell each other's products as the Chinese company tries to gain an edge over its rivals.

Haier will sell Sanyo products in China in its 9,000 outlets and about 12,000 service centers, while Haier will sell the refrigerators, freezers and washing machines in Japan through its partner's stores.