Chienrú Proton
 | |
 | |
Formerly | Proton Corporation |
|---|---|
| Public | |
| Industry | Home appliances |
| Founded | 4 November 1981 in Luhai, Monsilva
1 March 2024 (as Chienrú Proton) |
| Founders | Wu Xiaosi Oddgeir Martensson |
| Headquarters | Luhai , Monsilva |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  ¥515 billion (2021) |
| ¥12.5 billion (2020) | |
| ¥6.94 billion (2020) | |
| Total assets | ¥640 billion (2021) |
| Total equity | ¥290 billion (2021) |
Number of employees | 63,000 (2022) |
| Parent | Chienrú |
| Website | proton.ms chienru-proton.com |
Chienrú Proton is a Monsilvan multinational home appliances company headquartered in Luhai City, Luhai. The company manufactures and sells products including but not limited to air conditioners, washing machines, dryers, microwave ovens, refrigerators and dishwashers.
The company was originally founded in November 1981 as the Proton Corporation (质子公司; Zhízǐ Gōngsī). It was founded by Zhang Wen, a Monsilvan multimillionaire who had become interested in running his own business manufacturing home appliances after being a board member of several manufacturers in Ecros. It was maintained as an independent company until March 2024 when it was acquired by the Monsilvan manufacturing conglomerate, Chienrú. Since then, the company has been operating as 'Chienrú Proton'.
Contents
History
Founding and CEO-ship of Zhang Wen (1981–2009)
The Proton Corporation (质子公司; Zhízǐ Gōngsī) was founded on 4 November 1981 by Monsilvan multimillionaire businessman Zhang Wen, who had become interested in operating his own home appliance manufacturing business after investing and becoming a board member of multiple home appliance manufacturers in Ecros throughout the 1970s. Zhang started the company with over ₵600 million, and opened four factories in Luhai City.
When Zhang began hiring employees for his new company, he focused on hiring engineering and other professionals who had lost their jobs after the collapse of the Kingdom of Monsilva in 1978 due to liquidation of many companies that had been created by or strongly affiliated with the Shao Yaoting regime. This rapidly increased the reputation of Proton thanks to the free advertising from the media talking about the hiring of over 20 thousand unemployed people in only four months to a single company.
Throughout the 1980s, Proton quickly grew to become Monsilva's largest domestic home appliances manufacturer. And in 1992, it became the largest home appliance manufacturer in Monsilva overall. In 1995, Proton was reported to have assets of over ¥200 billion. In March 2009, Zhang Wen died at age 82, after serving as CEO for 15 years. o the beginning of Yin Huizhong's tenure as CEO of Proton.
Association with Chienrú (2009–2024)
Yin Huizhong, the new CEO of Proton was a former senior employee at Chienrú, Monsilva's largest vehicle manufacturer. This former relationship allowed Yin to establish multiple deals between the two companies that allowed Proton to produce electronic parts for Chienrú products, such as GPS, radio and infotainment systems. In 2014, Chienrú purchased a 38 per cent stake in Proton, making it the company's largest stakeholder other than the Zhang Family (which had a 52 per cent stake). In 2018, Chienrú purchased 33 per cent of the Zhang Family's stock, making it the largest stakeholder with 55 per cent. Proton was effectively treated as a Chienrú subsidiary throughout the 2010s, as the two companies' operations were intertwined.
Chienrú Proton (2024–present)
On 1 March 2024, Chienrú bought Proton completely making it a subsidiary of the company. Proton was rebranded as 'Chienrú Proton'. Its Monsilvan name, '质子公司' was also removed as a brand in Monsilva and replaced with the new 'Chienrú Proton' brand. This decision brought about some complaints that it was erasing the Monsilvan history behind the company. In an MBS Business interview with the newly appointed CEO Qi Yongnian, who had previously served as the Chief of Innovation at Chienrú, Qi rebutted against the complaints asking: "But Chienrú is Monsilvan! How could a Monsilvan company changing the branding of another Monsilvan company be erasure of Monsilvan history?".
Products
Below is a list of products currently produced by Chienrú Proton under its branding as of March 2024:
- Air conditioners
- Air fryers
- Blenders
- Blow dryers
- Bread machines
- Coffee makers
- CD players
- Dishwashers
- Dryers
- Electric blankets
- Electric fans
- Electric razors
- Freezers
- Heaters
- Kettles
- Landline telephones
- Microwave ovens
- Multicookers
- Ovens
- Pressure cookers
- Printers
- Radios
- Refrigerators
- Rice cookers
- Sandwich grill
- Scanners
- Slow cookers
- Steam cooker
- Stereo speakers
- Televisions
- Toasters
- Vacuum cleaners
- Waffle irons
- Washing machines
