In China, when it comes to air conditioners, everyone’s first reaction is Gree, Midea and Haier. In fact, in addition to the above three brands, there are dozens of other brands of domestic air conditioners, among which the more famous ones are: TCL, Hisense , Changhong, Chigo, Oaks, Chunlan and Whirlpool, etc. (Yes, many TV manufacturers cross-border production, in fact, not only cross-border production of air conditioners, but also cross-border production of mobile phones, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.).
Before Gree, Midea, and Haier came together, there was an air conditioner manufacturer in China, and its market share once appeared to be closer to these three trends. Many people would like to say whether it has always been with Gree Hard Steel Oaks, but it is not, Oaks It’s just that Gree has been prosecuted more and it has promoted its reputation. In fact, in the air-conditioning market, Oaks has never really threatened the top three status; the one that was really close to the top three was Chigo Air-Conditioning from Guangdong!
Chigo’s history
Chigo Air Conditioning was founded in 1994 by Li Xinghao and headquartered in Foshan, Guangdong. When it comes to why Li Xinghao founded Chigo, it is actually a very interesting history. Before founding Chigo Air Conditioning, Li Xinghao opened a restaurant. Because the air conditioners in the restaurant were often broken at that time, it cost 1,000 yuan to find someone to repair it. Li Xinghao felt that repairing the air conditioner was more profitable than the restaurant, so in 1989, he opened another air conditioning repair station. Through the maintenance station established, Li Xinghao found that the technology of air conditioners was not advanced and that the profit of air conditioners was much higher than that of restaurants, so in 1994 he established Zhigao Air Conditioning naturally.
Benefited from Li Xinghao’s operating capabilities and the overall improvement in the market environment, Chigo air conditioners have gradually grown and developed. In 1999, Chigo air conditioners sold 200,000 units; in 2002 they reached 1.8 million units; in 2004 they exceeded 2.8 million. Taiwan’s sales volume has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2007, Chigo’s air-conditioning market share has reached the fourth place in the industry, chasing Gree, Midea, and Haier. However, Chigo has been far behind in Chunlan and Kelon. On July 13, 2009, Chigo Air Conditioning successfully landed on the Hong Kong stock market, reaching the peak of Chigo's development.
However, after success, Li Xinghao did not dive down to make a good product. Instead, he became proud. The slogan "Make the world's best air conditioner" can be said to be confidence or vision, but he stepped on Gree and Haier is slightly inferior, even in order to "beat" Gree, Zhigao spared no expense to poach out the endorsement film and television star Jackie Chan from Gree, and hardly beat Gree in publicity! Even the advertising slogan also touched Gree. Gree has always promoted: "Gree, master the core technology", while the slogan of Chigo Air Conditioning is: "Master the core technology of Smart Cloud"! Under a series of chaotic fists, Li Xinghao made a bold statement in 2009: "By integrating global resources, the sales of Chigo air conditioners will be increased to 10 million units within 2 years, and the revenue will exceed 100 billion within 10 years." Not only did it fail to materialize, it even stepped onto the verge of bankruptcy.
PS: Dong Mingzhu has a saying that is right: all the brands endorsed by Jackie Chan are dead, except for Gree! It now appears that Jackie Chan's "endorsement" is really a curse.
In fact, from the comparison of Chigo’s R&D investment with Gree, it is impossible for Chigo to surpass Gree. Gree’s annual R&D investment is more than 6 billion, while Chigo’s annual R&D investment is only 190 million yuan. Obviously, Chigo learned Gree, but did not learn the core points. Of course, Chigo may also know that the core is technology, but he is not willing to spend money. After the highlight moment in 2010, Chigo began to decline. In 2018, Chigo Air Conditioning lost 480 million yuan; Chigo Air Conditioning created the highest loss record in 2019, reaching an astonishing 1.4 billion yuan; In the first half of 2020, Chigo Air Conditioning With a net profit loss of 720 million yuan, it is expected that the annual loss will further hit a new high. Due to constant losses and inability to pay suppliers on time, Chigo Air-Conditioning has been involved in dozens of lawsuits since 2020, and has also been filed for bankruptcy review. The former generation of kings has come to an end.
The
era is progressing, the society is developing, and the needs of the people are constantly changing. In the past, when the supply of products was in short supply, as long as the production was not worried about no sales, the company developed rapidly. But today, most people are more pursuing product quality. Although celebrity advertising can play a certain role, the more effective it is.The younger you come; instead of inviting stars, it is better to invest relevant expenses in research and development. Excellent quality is the foundation of today's foothold. Chigo Air-Conditioning failed to find out the needs of consumers in time and sought change. Instead, it put a lot of effort in publicity, and finally gradually widened the gap with the industry giants, and ended up being filed for bankruptcy today. It is worth everybody who is currently following its old path Of enterprises cause vigilance and reflection!
