LG Electronics wary of cheap Chinese home appliances
By Yoon Sung-won
LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution President Jo Seong-jin promotes the company’s Whisen Dual Air Conditioner during a press event at the company’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of LG Electronics
LG Electronics said Tuesday it will push for technological competitiveness in the face of increasing challenges from Chinese home appliance makers.
LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Systems President Jo Seong-jin revealed his concerns over cheap Chinese home appliances rushing into the Korean market.
“Chinese home appliances are considerably threatening,” Jo said during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. “Chinese makers are bringing in products that are being sold on the domestic market due to the recent economic slowdown there. Cheaper models are particularly worrying.”
Jo said the company will differentiate its brands, stress premium in the high-end sector while boosting productivity in the low-end.
“We will clash a lot in the market,” he said. “We will be able to handle the situation by responding with technology and price competitiveness. We will make strategic decisions according to the situation.”
In its air conditioner sales, LG Electronics also revealed its plan to balance between the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors to boost profitability this year.
“We plan to set the balance between products for home use and for commercial use on a fifty-fifty basis,” LG Electronics Air Conditioner Business Unit Head Lee Jae-sung said. “Strengthening our coverage to more diverse markets, we are expanding to new products such as chillers and commercial heating, and ventilation and air conditioning devices.”
Lee said the company is also boosting after-sales services such as installation, maintenance and repair aiming at boosting the B2B sector.
On Tuesday, LG Electronics unveiled a new air conditioner named “Whisen Dual Air Conditioner,” which has dual cooling, air purifier and dehumidifier functions in a single device.
“So far, air conditioners have been home appliances only for summer and remain unused for the rest of a year,” Jo said. “The new product will be a one-stop air conditioning system that will handle indoor air quality throughout the four seasons.”
The Whisen Dual Air Conditioner has a camera sensor that recognizes the number of people in a place as well as their locations and movements to automatically set the power and direction of cooling and heating. It has the company’s advanced dual inverter compressor technology and uses up to 63 percent less electricity while providing stronger cooling capability, LG Electronics said.
It also has a smart air purification system that can remove up to 99.9 percent of super-fine dust in the air and a dehumidification function that can absorb up to 100 liters of humidity without draining the water tank.
The air conditioner is also compatible with LG Electronics’ smart home platform dubbed “SmartThinQ” and thus users can monitor air conditions and control the device remotely using their smartphones.