Dyson is deepening its presence in Singapore—the appliance company's headquarters after it announced it was leaving the U.K. in 2019—with a new factory focusing on battery technologies.
The firm on Wednesday called the new Singapore plant the "most significant investment in advanced manufacturing in the firm’s history." The factory, which will cover an area equivalent to 53 basketball courts, will be operational by 2025.
The company had previously announced plans to invest $3.4 billion in new facilities by 2025. On Wednesday, Dyson also announced new research and development centers in both the Philippines and the U.K., costing $208 million and $125 million respectively.
In 2019, the company announced that it was moving its headquarters from the U.K. to Singapore, which then-CEO Jim Rowan said was aimed at “future-proofing” the company. Yet critics accused founder James Dyson—a vocal supporter of Britain’s campaign to leave the European Union—of abandoning the country.
Dyson opened its new global headquarters in Singapore in March 2022, and pledged at the time to invest a further $1.1 billion into the Southeast Asian country. The company said Wednesday’s factory announcement is part of that pledge, but did not disclose its cost.
Dyson said the new Singaporean investment would focus on new battery technologies, as the company tries to expand into new products including A.I. and robotics. Last year, the company announced plans to sell robots that could do household chores by 2030.
“Software, connectivity, A.I. and proprietary new technology batteries will power the next generation of Dyson technology,” said James Dyson on Wednesday.
Not every new initiative from Dyson has panned out. The company announced plans to build an electric car in 2017, including a $1.3 billion investment in new battery technologies. The project was unceremoniously canceled in 2019, with founder James Dyson telling Fortune at the time that it “wasn’t commercially viable”. One reason: Dyson’s batteries were more expensive than the rest of the industry.
Dyson reported $8.1 billion in revenue in 2022, 8.3% higher than the previous year. Yet increased costs from shocks like the chip shortage, China’s COVID-19 lockdown and rising commodity prices from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine eroded margins, causing a 13.3% decline in EBITDA to $1.6 billion.
