Mr
Entrepreneurs dream big, but it's unlikely that Louis,
Frederick and Emory Upton ever imagined their homegrown
washer company would become the world's largest appliance
manufacturer. Since 1911, Whirlpool Corporation has grown
from humble beginnings to a global enterprise with
manufacturing locations on every major continent, 68,000
employees worldwide and the leading brands in major home
appliances. Whirlpool has grown to the leadership position
within the global appliance industry thanks to a keen
understanding of their customers' needs and a firm
commitment to addressing those requirements through their
superb brands, products and services.
Asia-Pacific economies grew at a faster pace in 2006,
thanks to a strong performance by their export industries
and higher investments. A Reuter’s poll in October 2006 in
the region found that economists have upgraded their growth
forecasts for China, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and
the Philippines. India, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, is
expected to grow at 7.5 percent for fiscal year 2006-07,
this is only marginally lower than the 8.4 percent growth
in 2005-06. China’s home electrical appliance sector had a
production output of 235.447 billion yen (approx. $29.5
billion) in the first half of 2006, up 16.8 percent year-
on-year. Production growth was lower by 7.46 percentage
points than 20051. The output of washing machines stood at
13.7 million sets by the end of the second quarter of 2006,
up 3.05 percent year-on-year. Growth was 11.2 percentage
points lower than that in the same 2005 period. Output of
air-conditioners stood at 472.9 million units, up 1.42
percent, and its growth was 25.99 percentage points lower
than that in the same 2005 period. These numbers show that ...
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