Hitachi Considers Selling Home Appliance Business; Samsung Also in Negotiations

Sale Price Expected to Reach Several Hundred Billion Yen

Hitachi, which has been restructuring its business portfolio, is reportedly considering selling its domestic home appliance business. Samsung Electronics is also said to be participating as a negotiating party in this "big deal," which is expected to fetch a sale price of up to several hundred billion yen.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported on August 5 that the company Hitachi plans to sell is Hitachi Global Life Solutions (GLS), which manufactures refrigerators and washing machines. In the 2024 fiscal year (April 2024 to March 2025), GLS recorded sales of 367.6 billion yen (approximately 3.5 trillion won), a 3% decrease compared to the previous year.

It was reported that the acquisition negotiations are being conducted with multiple companies, including Samsung Electronics. If the sale is finalized, the amount is estimated to range from 100 billion yen to several hundred billion yen.

Hitachi is currently focusing on its core businesses such as railways, power transmission and distribution equipment, information and communication technology (IT) services, and industrial equipment. In these fields, Hitachi is building a business model that generates long-term profits by handling everything from development using digital technology to maintenance and support.

However, it is known that Hitachi is pursuing the sale of its home appliance business because there are few ways to generate profits using digital technology after product sales. Nevertheless, Nikkei pointed out that consumer electronics are effective in enhancing brand recognition, so Hitachi is also considering the option of retaining its home appliance business. Hitachi had already sold its overseas home appliance business to a major Turkish company in 2021 and had previously sold Hitachi Metals, which was once considered a core subsidiary.

Japan once stood out in the global home appliance market, but since the 2010s, it has gradually lost its leadership to rising Korean and Chinese companies. Sanyo Electric, Toshiba, and Sharp have already sold their home appliance businesses, and Panasonic Holdings is also considering withdrawing from or selling its home appliance division.

Nikkei stated, "Since Hitachi's main business is corporate services, improving consumer recognition is one of its management challenges," and predicted that there will likely be internal disagreements regarding the sale of the home appliance business.