British technology company Dyson will make an additional investment amounting to $3.67 billion into new technologies and products in the next five years.
The new funding on new technologies and products will enable Dyson to expand the number of its offerings as well as enter new markets. The investment will be focused on emerging technologies and will be concentrated in Singapore, the UK, and the Philippines.
Moving HQ to Singapore
In November 2019, Dyson announced that it has selected the St. James Power Station, a historic building in Singapore, as the site of its new global headquarters (HQ).
The selection of the historic building in Singapore follows the decision of Dyson in January to move its global HQ out of the United Kingdom to Asia. According to Dyson then-chief executive officer (CEO) Jim Rowan, the new location would serve as "a hive for our research and development endeavors".
However, the move was criticized by some as a form of hypocrisy since the firm’s founder Sir James Dyson was a prominent advocate for Brexit. Dyson argued that the decision was made based on commercial reasons and is not connected with Brexit.
Dyson is is best known for its vacuum cleaners but it also manufactures air purifiers and hair care products such as hair dryers. Rowan said that the company had outgrown its existing technology center after 12 years of operation in Singapore.
Prior to this, the company decided in October 2019 to not push through with its plan to build its own line of electric cars. Dyson said that while its engineers had developed a "fantastic electric car", it would not push through with the project because it was not "commercially viable".
Founder Sir James Dyson sent an email to all employees saying that Dyson was unable to find a buyer for the project. This division of the company currently has 500 employees.
Shifting focus on new technologies in UK and Asia
The new investment will be used to hire more engineers and scientists in fields such as software, machine learning and robotics.
Dyson's new CEO Ronald Krueger said: "Now is the time to invest in new technologies such as energy storage, robotics and software which will drive performance and sustainability in our products for the benefit of Dyson's customers."
"We will expand our existing product categories, as well as enter entirely new fields for Dyson over the next five years. This will start a new chapter in Dyson's development," Krueger added.
Among the fields the new investment will focus on are robotics, next generation motor technology, intelligent products, machine learning and connectivity. Another strategy by the company is to commercialize its solid state battery technology, which is under development in the US, UK, Japan and Singapore.
In the UK, the main focus would be the expansion of Dyson's robotics research and artificial intelligence programs at its Hullavington Airfield Campus in Wiltshire while the Singapore group will expand its advanced research and development facilities, which cover numerous fields including machine learning and robotics.
A new university research program will also be created in Singapore while a new advanced manufacturing hub is in the books.
Furthermore, a new dedicated software hub will be established by the firm at Alabang in Muntinlupa, Philippines.
