[아이뉴스24 장유미 기자] LG Electronics is making wide strides aiming at the US built-in home appliance market worth 10 trillion won. While participating with Samsung Electronics in the largest kitchen and bathroom exhibition in the United States, they are actively preparing to expand the market, including recruiting people in major positions at Samsung Electronics.
According to the industry on the 9th, LG Electronics’ U.S. subsidiary opened a built-in home appliance division B2B (business-to-business transaction) with Randy Warner, from Samsung Electronics, to grow the premium built-in brand’LG Signature Kitchen Suite’ on the 8th (local time). He was hired as vice president of the division.
Warner, who was in charge of the premium home appliance business of Samsung Electronics’ US subsidiary, joined the US luxury built-in kitchen appliance brand’Daico’ after its acquisition by Samsung Electronics in 2016. Since last year, he has also served as vice president of the luxury group of Samsung Electronics’ US subsidiary.
LG Electronics is planning to aggressively target built-in major markets such as the US and Europe with’Signature Kitchen Suite’ starting with the recruitment of Vice President Warner. In particular, it plans to focus on the B2B market that supplies products to luxury apartments and town houses.
Sam Kim, president of LG Electronics’ home appliance division, said, “Vice President Randy Warner is widely respected in the industry. As a person with a wide range of expertise in the luxury and built-in sectors, we expect to contribute greatly to LG’s continued momentum.” Said.
In addition, LG Electronics will also participate in’KBIS 2021′, the largest kitchen and bathroom exhibition in the US, which will be held online until the 12th to speed up customer acquisition. Every year, the event brings together built-in consumer electronics customers and companies from around the world, including kitchen designers, architects and interior experts.
LG Electronics operates a separate virtual exhibition hall for a month at this event. The virtual exhibition hall consists of the’Signature Kitchen Suite’ exhibition hall, a lineup of premium built-in products, and the’LG Studio’ exhibition hall, consisting of premium built-in products.
The signature kitchen suite will be the first to introduce new products such as a 36-inch gas pro range and a drawer-type refrigerator and wine cellar. In addition, a total of 22 product lineups, including column-type refrigerators, freezers, wine cellars, dishwashers, and microwave ovens, will be exhibited.
The LG Studio exhibition hall consists of a space that extends not only to the kitchen but also to the living room. Products such as’Wash Tower’, an integrated washing machine and dryer, styler, LG Instaview refrigerator, and new cordless vacuum cleaner A9S will be exhibited.
Competitor Samsung Electronics also participates in this event and introduces a large number of innovative products such as customized home appliance’BESPOKE’ refrigerator and’Grande AI’ washing machine and dryer. In addition, innovative home appliances such as’Airdresser’, an artificial intelligence robot cleaner’Jetbot AI’, and’Wine Dispenser’ that keeps wine in optimal condition are also displayed to propose a new lifestyle. Samsung Electronics has maintained the No. 1 market share in the US home appliance market for 5 years since 2016.
An industry insider said, “In recent years, consumers’ interest in new spaces has gradually increased, and as their tastes are segmented, the US built-in market is showing a growth trend.” “Especially in the US, the super premium built-in market has a higher growth rate than the general built-in market. It is about three times higher, and I know that LG Electronics is actively nurturing it as a new food.”
In fact, LG Electronics has set a goal to overtake GE (General Electric) two years later in the United States, the largest built-in market in the world, and is accelerating the kitchen remodeling business with its signature kitchen suite. Currently, the US market share, which has the largest built-in market size, is in the order of ▲ Subzero & Wolf ▲ Thermado (Bosch) ▲ Viking ▲ Miele ▲ Monogram (GE).
LG Electronics is planning to accelerate its targeting of the global built-in market by taking this opportunity. According to the industry, the global built-in home appliance market totals $45 billion (about 50 trillion won), accounting for about 30% of the total home appliance market. Among them, it is known that about 15% of them are super premium built-in such as signature kitchen suites.
In particular, the built-in home appliance market in the US is about 9 billion dollars (about 10 trillion won), which is large enough to account for more than 20% of the total built-in market. In addition, in the United States, it is reported that about 10% of the ordinary home purchase price is spent in the kitchen.
An official at LG Electronics explained, “The US and Europe account for a significant portion of the global built-in market.”
Reporter Jang Yoomi [email protected]