Contents » To score in the NFL, It pays to move 21 r Gap's Athieta iooics a iot like Lululemon 22 * Briefs: CNOOC engineers China's biggest North American buyout 23 (I Edited by James E. Eiiis Companies8(lndustries China Is Really Big. Its Brands, Not So Much • Mainland giants aim to develop products that can thrive in the U.S. and fetch higher prices • "If you just focus on the China brand, people will think it's cheaper and the quality is not very good" It was going to be the start of a Chinese invasion. Haier Group, a company from the northeastern Chinese city of Qingdao and the world's largest maker of air conditioners, refrigerators, and other appliances, opened a factory in Camden, S.C, in 2000. The plant was Haier's first in the U.S. and a big step in its strategy to expand beyond China and challenge Maytag and Whirlpool in American homes. A decade later, Haier is still trying to win over American consumers. It's had some success in niches such as minifridges for hotel rooms and college dorms, but it's yet to make inroads in mainstream products such as full-size refrigerators and washing machines. Haier's U.S. head count tells the story: about 250 workers at the South Caroli- na plant plus 220 working on U.S. sales and marketing. It has 80,000 work- ers worldwide. "We had a few ups and downs," says Shariff Kan, president of Haier America. Companies such as Haier, which had $23.6 billion in sales last year, may be little known in the U.S., but their brands are household names back in China. Some have become global lead- ers, thanks largely to their strong posi- tion in the world's second-largest econ- omy. TCL Multimedia Technology, China's leading maker of televisions, for instance, is now No. 5 globally for LCD TVs. But unless you've shopped online for a low-cost set lately, you've probably missed the brand. Now Haier and other big Chinese brands are trying again to make a splash in the U.S. Haier plans to open an R&D center in the U.S. to focus on larger-size appliances designed with American families in mind. "That will really open the door," Kan says. Haier is following the lead of Huizhou-based TCL, which opened an R&D center in Silicon 0^ Valley last year. The company, ^ ^ July 30-August 5,2012 Bloomberg BusinessWeek Companies&lndustries which started selling TVs in the U.S. under its TCL brand in 2011 (it previous- ly made sets sold under the RCA brand), also has a research lab with the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology. Chinese phonemakers such as ZTE and Huawei Technologies are making deals with American carriers for their low-cost smartphones, and BYD, a maker of autos and solar panels partly backed by Warren Buffett, set up shop in Los Angeles last year. Even Chinese sporting goods companies Peai< Sport and Li-Ning are intent on establishing an American beachhead. Given the strong home market for made-in-China brands, why bother? One reason: the sheer market size and affluence that makes the U.S. a vora-.