Summary
AUCKLAND, Oct 23 — Haier Smart Home's Fisher & Paykel New Zealand campus officially opened in Penrose, Auckland, on 23 October, serving as both Haier Smart Home's Australia-New Zealand regional headquarters and Fisher & Paykel's global headquarters. All timber used in the campus buildings was sourced from New Zealand plantation pine, and the construction phase achieved a carbon-positive benefit of 1,089 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, earning a gold award from the New Zealand Sustainable Energy Association. Founded in 1934, Fisher & Paykel has established two innovation directions at the new campus: home solutions and a zero-carbon smart home research institute.
Its product range has expanded from single built-in refrigerators and drawer dishwashers to full-scenario solutions covering kitchens and garment care. A wash programme developed with the University of Otago reduces wear on delicate fabrics such as wool and silk by 24 to 52 percent, and the company has worked with experts from 16 countries to advance an International Electrotechnical Commission international standard for food preservation. Haier Smart Home said the new campus will reinforce Fisher & Paykel's global high-end brand position and accelerate the global rollout of Haier Smart Home's smart home strategy, building a complete whole-home solution around whole-house connectivity, home energy management, energy-saving scheduling and clean energy use.
Haier Smart Home has ranked first globally in retail sales of major home appliances for 17 consecutive years, holds the top share in the Australia-New Zealand major appliance market with its Haier and Fisher & Paykel dual brands, leads New Zealand's large whiteware market with both brands, and has maintained first place in Australia's major appliance market despite a market downturn. Haier-branded revenue has grown by more than 40 percent cumulatively over the past five years.
Commentary
The opening of Haier Smart Home's Fisher & Paykel New Zealand campus marks a shift in the globalisation of the Chinese appliance giant from product exports to embedding capabilities locally. As a standard-bearer for New Zealand's high-end appliances, Fisher & Paykel's brand premium and local R&D capability are key assets in Haier's global footprint. The campus, with its dual role as Australia-New Zealand regional headquarters and global headquarters, and its home solutions and zero-carbon smart home research institute, shows Haier is using New Zealand as a testbed for high-end scenario solutions and sustainable technology.
For local small and medium-sized enterprises, the investment may bring supply chain opportunities: the campus emphasises the use of local plantation pine and carbon-positive outcomes, which could generate subcontracting and partnership demand in green building materials, smart home integration and energy management services. At the same time, the Haier and Fisher & Paykel dual brands hold the top share in the Australia-New Zealand major appliance market, and Haier-branded revenue has grown by more than 40 percent over the past five years, indicating that localised operations are squeezing space for smaller brands, particularly in high-end built-in kitchen appliances and garment care niches. Notably, Fisher & Paykel's work with the University of Otago to reduce wear on delicate fabrics, and its joint development of an international food preservation standard, could attract more technical talent and start-ups to Auckland and foster an appliance innovation ecosystem.
On the other hand, Haier's global supply chain integration may shift some component sourcing to China or Southeast Asia, requiring traditional local suppliers to raise technical barriers or move into customised services. New Zealand SMEs should seize the smart home and zero-carbon building trends and build differentiated advantages in value-added services such as installation and maintenance, energy audits and smart home integration, rather than competing directly with the giants in hardware manufacturing.
Keywords: Fisher & Paykel, Haier Smart Home, New Zealand campus, Australia-New Zealand regional headquarters, smart home, zero-carbon smart home, whole-home solutions, high-end appliances, localisation
Source: Jiemian.com
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