‘Less time managing, more time living’


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At IFA 2026, Haier set out its vision for a home where technology demands less attention, not more. From AI-powered appliances and connected living to humanoid robots, ERT looks at how the company plans to turn intelligence into something genuinely useful.


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f IFA 2026 proved anything, it is that AI has well and truly found its way into the home. It can recognise what you are cooking, work out what is in your washing machine and even decide how your TV should look and sound. But with every appliance apparently becoming smarter, Haier arrived in Berlin with a slightly different question: what if all that intelligence actually meant consumers had to think about technology less?


That was at the centre of the manufacturer’s


IFA press conference and its “Home of Intelligent Possibilities”, with Haier Europe arguing that the next stage of the smart home is not simply about connecting more products, but creating technology capable of understanding how people live and quietly working around them. Opening the presentation, Neil Tunstall,


CEO of Haier Europe, described it as a “smart, human-centred approach to innovation”, designed around what remains a particularly important place: the home.


It comes as Haier continues to expand in


Europe. Mr Tunstall highlighted the growth of the business since 2018 and the strength of its portfolio, with Haier, Candy and Hoover allowing the company to reach consumers across different parts of the market. Globally, Haier has now been ranked the


world’s number one major appliances brand by Euromonitor International for 17 consecutive years, while Haier Smart Home recorded revenues of approximately €38 billion in 2025. But he said the company is increasingly moving beyond thinking about individual products and functions towards wider ecosystems and experiences. And there is plenty more money being put behind that ambition. Over the next five years, Haier plans to invest


around €13 billion in strategic technology areas including artificial intelligence, innovation and the Internet of Things. The aim, according to Tunstall, is for that technology to become increasingly natural and unobtrusive – learning when to step in without requiring the consumer to constantly tell it what to do.


Less tech, more time


Antony Peart, Head of Brand at Haier Europe, then tackled something many of us will probably recognise. Technology was supposed to make life simpler.


Yet somehow we have ended up with more information, more notifications, more choices and more things demanding our attention. Haier wants to reverse that. “What we’re doing at Haier is removing all


complexity,” Peart told the audience, arguing that technology should understand the consumer and ultimately give them something much more valuable back: “time, choice and freedom”. That means starting with people rather than the technology itself - looking at how consumers actually live, identifying the frustrations in their day and then working out where technology can remove them.


It also feeds into the manufacturer’s definition of premium.


He said that premium is no longer necessarily about having more technology.


Instead, it is


about having the right technology: something that understands the consumer, adapts to them and makes everyday experiences more intuitive and beneficial. It is an interesting distinction at an IFA where AI was, quite literally, everywhere. Adding another sensor, algorithm or AI badge


to the front of a box is relatively easy to explain. Showing consumers what it actually does for them is the rather more important bit. And Mr Peart was clear that innovation at Haier should not mean simply adding another feature. Every innovation should address a problem


and every feature should deliver a meaningful benefit. Whether someone is attempting something ambitious in the kitchen or simply trying to get dinner on the table after a long day, Haier’s job is not to tell them how to live, he said, but to create technology that enhances the way they already live.


Perhaps his best summary was also his simplest: “The most powerful technology is not technology that asks for our attention; it’s technology that gives our attention back.”


Seeing is believing


Of course, talking about invisible technology is one thing. Haier also had plenty of very visible examples of it around its IFA stand. In laundry, the new Haier Vision 15 washing machines introduce AI Vision Sense, using an internal camera to identify information including the size of the load, garment colours, foam levels and even items that have been forgotten or become trapped inside the drum. Alongside it is the AI Power Sense System, which brings together nine sensors monitoring factors including load weight and balance, water level and temperature before adjusting the cycle accordingly.


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