Hisense SA bumps up local product offering

The electronics company says it's determined to provide local consumers with a unified brand choice which can now be found throughout the home; from cooking and refrigeration in the kitchen to televisions in the living room, washing machines in the laundry room, and of course its smartphones and tablets.

The launch event also served as a platform for Hisense to celebrate the one millionth television set and the one millionth fridge unit rolling off the production line at its Atlantis manufacturing plant. Now in its fourth year of operation, the facility employs over 500 full-time staff members and provides training and social upliftment initiatives to the surrounding area.

We did it! We produced 2 000 000 products in our Atlantis Factory! #aimhighevent

A post shared by HisenseSA (@hisensesa) on Jul 13, 2017 at 11:27am PDT

The new Hisense kitchen range includes a gas and ceramic hob, a state-of-the-art built-in oven, and a sleek extractor fan.

Ceramic and gas hobs: The ceramic hob is engineered with convenient touch points to control the power levels of the four cooking zones and the scratch-resistant ceramic surface makes the hob easy to clean. For lovers of gas cooking, the gas hob (HHU90GAGL) features five triple ring-burners and a tempered glass panel surface. With auto-ignition of the burners, the hob includes flame-failure engineering that ensures safety while cooking, and stainless-steel support which is both corrosion and rust resistant. The ceramic and gas units are both suitable for marble countertops.

Hisense ceramic hob (HHU77CEEL)

Built-in electric oven: The 70-litre twin oven comes with a full touch control LED display and aluminium stylings, and boasts the company's Dual Cook System which allows busy chefs to prepare two dishes in the oven at the same time and at different temperatures. A concealed bottom element helps with easy cleaning, and a triple layered glass door ensures heat does not transfer to the surface.

Extractor: Hisense describes its extractor unit as "elegantly powerful" since its 550 m3/h of airflow extraction power is tempered by a low noise output of 56dB at its highest. It also comes with touchscreen controls, energy saving LED lighting and washable aluminium filters.

Hisense french-door fridge (H701FS-ID)

French-door fridge: Hisense’s refrigerators remain one of the most popular choices at retailers, being manufactured locally at the company’s factory in the Atlantis. The latest flagship unit is a french-door fridge with a roomy 516-litre interior space that is customisable for different sized food, and includes a crushed or blocked ice maker.

Inside the fridge, Hisense's Dual-Tech Cooling technology provides the notion of separated cooling to keep food fresh in all compartments. Cool air is essentially separate in each compartment which helps the refrigerator to keep the ideal level of humidity for delicate food, while the freezer compartment stays dry, frozen and frost-free. The technology also prevents flavour and smell integration.

“We have no doubt that these cooking appliances will perform as well as our refrigeration range has which took the no.1 position in sales value market share for six months in 2016; while between January and May 2017, our sales value ranked no.1 locally. Overall, our revenue sales growth has increased by 22.09% compared to year-on-year figures in 2016," says Jason Ou, head of product and marketing at Hisense South Africa.

The built-in oven, gas and ceramic hobs and extractor fan will be available from retailers from August 2017, while the fridge will be in stores from September 2017.

Recommended retail pricing:

Built-in Oven (HBO60201) - R8,999
Ceramic Hob (HHU77CEEL) - R4,499
Gas Hob (HHU90GAGL) - R3,999
Extractor (HHO90TJMI) - R3,999
French-door fridge (H701FS - ID) - R34,999

Locally-built ULED TVs

Hisense South Africa maintained the top spot in TV unit market share from March to December 2016 and April to May 2017, and is hoping to build on the momentum with its latest locally-built 4K ULED additions: the flagship 75" N9700 and the 65" N8700.

The 75" N9700 2017 flagship model is the largest ULED TV that Hisense has introduced yet. The unit has a Dolby Digital-enabled sound bar situated below the narrow aluminium frame that houses its Quantum Dot technology display and offers a brightness of 2,200 nits, which means every detail of the screen is illuminated for a superb viewing experience.

Hisense 75" N9700

If 75” is too much screen to handle, the 65" 65N8700 is ideal for the living room. Design features include a frameless, ultra-slim 8.9 mm body, along with Dolby Digital audio functionality, all of which sits on a centrally-mounted aluminium stand. Coupled with its sleek design, the 65N8700 delivers peak brightness of 1,000 nits.

The backlight in the both TVs has been engineered such that it’s divided into hundreds of zones, which minimises the impact from each zone by controlling them individually. This means that blacks can be darker, and whites can be brighter, without being influenced by backlight of adjacent areas. This year Hisense has also divided the backlight into up to 560 individual zones in the new ULED - which is 320 more zones than last year.

The 75N9700 and 65N8700 boast 4K displays, each serving up a rich 3840x2160 resolution and wider colour gamut compared to normal LED TVs, while the HDR (High Dynamic Range) Supreme enhances the brightness and contrast of the televisions’ picture quality. On the smart TV front, the company has integrated the new VIDAA U operating system on both models. This is designed to turn the television into a home entertainment hub once connected to a Wi-Fi network, presenting users with an easy-to-navigate interface and a variety of apps.

Recommended retail pricing for the models are as follows:

65" 4K ULED Smart TV N8700 - R39,999
75" 4K ULED Smart TV N9700 - R69,999