Hisense’s huge success in South Africa

Chinese electronics company Hisense has excelled in South Africa since opening its local factory, which has become Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest TV manufacturer.

Hisense first entered the South African market in 1996, one of its first major steps in extending its reach to a global market beyond China.

It quickly gained traction due to its balance of good quality and affordability, undercutting electronics giants like Samsung, LG, and Bosch.

Seventeen years after its entry, it kicked off local assembly operations at its R350-million Hisense Industrial Park in Atlantis, north of Cape Town.

By 2017, the 100,000m² facility had assembled 1 million TVs and refrigerators. As of 2024, that tally has grown to 4.5 million TVs and 2.9 million refrigerators.

Hisense estimates that its local market share of LED TVs and refrigerators grew by 25% and 14%, respectively, since the factory was launched.

While most of its locally manufactured stock is aimed at Africa, Hisense SA started exporting refrigerators to Europe in 2022, advancing the “Made in South Africa” cause.

It also makes business-to-business displays for the African and European markets.

In a recent interview with the Xinhua news agency, Hisense SA financial manager Shi Lang said the plant could expand to manufacture washing machines and microwaves “if needed”.

Despite being a Chinese company, Hisense regards itself as “Proudly South African” due to its local manufacturing and other localised operations.

The Atlantis plant employs roughly 1,000 workers directly, of which 700 are from the local community. Hisense estimates the factory also supports about 5,000 indirect jobs.

Several South African workers who Xinhua interviewed have spoken fondly of their time working at the plant, particularly regarding Hisense’s focus on training and upskilling them.

Lang has also said Hisense was deeply involved in local social welfare activities.

In addition to donating products and materials to orphanages, hospitals, and schools, the company has set up a technology research and development training base, which had trained 1,400 people by 2022.

The Hisense factory also sources all foam and carton packaging for its products from local suppliers, supporting local businesses.

Extensive reach in South African households

In addition to TVs and refrigerators, Hisense makes air fryers, washing machines, dishwashers, air conditioners, home sound systems, budget smartphones, microwaves, and ovens.

Several MyBroadband polls over the past few months show Hisense’s locally-made products are immensely popular in South Africa.

In these polls, it ranked as the second most-owned TV brand and third most-owned refrigerator brand.

The graphs below show the most-owned TV and refrigerator brands among MyBroadband readers in July 2024.

MyBroadband also recently conducted a Technology Survey and found Hisense ranked third among the most preferred TV brands, with only the world’s two top display makers — Samsung and LG — ranking higher.

Samsung and LG are largely considered higher-end brands as their latest models feature cutting-edge display panel technology developed by leading research and development departments.

In what is perhaps a bid to broaden its appeal to customers with more acquired tastes, Hisense launched a Premium product range in South Africa in September 2023.

Its first offering is a line of premium fridges, including a model with a large built-in display and smart capabilities.

It has also invested significantly in improving its VIDAA smart TV operating system to better compete with the capabilities of Android TV, Google TV, Samsung’s Tizen OS, and LG’s webOS.

MyBroadband asked Hisense about its performance in South Africa and plans for the future, but the company did not respond by publication.

Globally, Hisense shipped the second-largest volume of TVs in 2023, moving 26.11 million units, according to market research firm Omdia.

Its year-on-year growth of 6.4% makes it the fastest-growing brand of the top five TV manufacturers in the world.