Fully charged: Dyson profits up 19 per cent as turnover reaches record £1.7bn and company announces it will invest £1bn in new battery technology
Dyson's turnover in 2015 was up 26 per cent to £1.7bn, while its profits rose by 19 per cent to £448m over last year, the company announced today.
The vacuum cleaner, fan and electrical device specialist saw its growth in China triple, where it leads in floorcare and humidifiers, while its business in Asia Pacific grew 70 per cent and became Dyson's leading region.
International growth was underpinned by established markets such as the US, which was the company's most profitable market in 2015. In Europe growth increased by 38 per cent and cord-free sales doubled, making the company the European leader.
The company launched 17 new products in five categories and sold 10 million machines globally, while investment in new technologies rose to £206m.
£1bn going towards battery technology
Dyson will invest £1bn into developing battery life technology by 2020 thanks to an almost 20 per cent rise in profits over 2015, the company announced today.
A tripling of its revenues in China last year will help fund £1bn of research into developing better battery life technology by 2020.
"2015 was a year of exceptional growth across Asia and Europe, which proves that people across the world want better technology. 2016 is gearing up to be a transformational one as we launch more exciting and more intelligent proprietary technology," Max Conze, chief executive, said.
"We have invested £100m looking at batteries in the past five years. We are now stepping up that work and will spend £1bn by 2020. Solving energy density is the greatest engineering challenge in the 21st century."
"Batteries that give two times the energy density and storage would be great for mobility of the future," Conze added.
Dyson expects to spend £5bn per week on research and development in 2016 and an extra £100m over the next three years on external technology investments.
Its investment into longer-life battery innovations comes as its sales of battery-enabled, hand-held vacuum cleaners grew 66% globally in 2015 and Dyson now holds a quarter of the global market, underpinned by "continuing investment in core digital motor and battery technology".