theceomagazine.com | 129Gigaset released its Sculpture phone in
mid 2015. Looking more like a gallery
artwork than a piece of technology for
the home, the model has a unique shape,
ergonomic lines and a super-smooth
finish. Klaus searched all over the world
for a material supplier able to make
something that could meet the Sculpture
phone’s specifications.
“We found only one technology
company in the world able to improve
our working materials to create and
realise our product,” he adds.
“They’ve created a new process
with oiling as well as creating some
new materials. This is something new
we’ve learned about the moulding
process in our factories. This shows
how special it is to have suppliers that
are willing to try new things.”Like a
work of art
showed consolidated revenue increased 3.9
per cent to €293.3 million from 2016, while
EBITDA rose 4.4 per cent to €26.1 million.
“We have fundamentally restructured the
company over the past two years, and our
new operating strategy, with a focus on new
growth areas such as mobile devices and
business telephone solutions, is fully realised.
The result shows that Gigaset is growing for
the first time in years,” Klaus says proudly.
Gigaset also has major supplier
partnerships in China that have lasted over
20 years, and an office in Shanghai.
Continued partnerships with China will be
crucial for its future sustainability. “Around 70
per cent of our electronics are supplied from
China,” says Klaus. “Their team integrates
really well with our local R&D team.”
Chinese partnerships are also important if
Gigaset wants to have any hope of making
real inroads into the smartphone industry.
Legacy giants Apple and Samsung are no
longer as dominant as they were in years past.
It is now Chinese players such as Huawei,
Oppo and Vivo that are making up a larger
chunk of the smartphone pie.
With more than 1,600 product variations
in its range – over the past year alone,
Gigaset has released more than 250 new
product variations – relating not just to its
DECT phones but also to its smartphone and
smart home accessories, including alarm
systems, smoke detectors and motion sensors.
“We don’t produce a piece of hardware that
can be chucked out in a year like many of
our competitors in the telecommunication
industry are doing,” Klaus says.
“All of this is connected to a very high
tolerance in terms of best quality, design,
processes, and sustainable technologies that
are long-lasting, low-weight, recyclable and
have low CO2 emissions.”
Gigaset’s new strategy is paying out,
literally for its shareholders and figuratively
for the executive board. But at the same time,
the company also understands that it can’t
completely abandon the core of its identity
and what made Gigaset a leader in the first
place: DECT phones.
“We have growing opportunities; no
matter if it’s smartphones, business telephony
or future communications. We’re a company
for the future. Even as these new segments
show incredible growth potential for Gigaset,
DECT phones still continue to be the
company’s main business,” says Klaus.
Now that Gigaset is out of the woods
and back on the right path, it can go back
to being its confident, world-beating self.Interview | INNOVATE