Bosch, Siemens squeeze LG in connected appliances

By Yoon Sung-won

Korea’s consumer electronics giants are under pressure to maintain their bottom lines in market shares of home appliances as rival companies plan to release more affordable products with strengthened security.

During last week’s Consumer Electronics (CE) China fair held in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, officials of leading appliances companies such as Bosch and Siemens said that they are aiming to promote the latest connected appliances to the increasing number of middle-class consumers in China.

By pushing a “dual-track” approach ― premium products for high-level incomers and budget items for middle- to low-class level incomers ― they plan to expand their business territories which may threaten Samsung and LG in China, the world’s single-biggest consumer electronics market.

An official at Bosch said it has already started to provide the Home Connect devices in the Chinese market and is planning to expand the smart home product lineup this year.

“We have already launched the Home Connect refrigerator, dish washer, washing machine and clothes dryer since March,” Bosch China’s project manager Dorothy Lu said during the CE China, last week. “We have designed the mobile application to help users easily control the devices remotely.”

Lu said Bosch will roll out more connected devices such as coffee machines and plans to ultimately provide connectivity to all home appliances.

“Not only major domestic appliances like washing machines, ovens and refrigerators, we will also connect small domestic appliances that used in kitchens,” she said.

Siemens, which shares the Home Connect system with Bosch under the name of their joint venture BSH, said it also plans to provide its first connected home appliances in China, aiming at richer customers in major cities.

“Siemens will roll out the top-class home appliances that support the Home Connect function mainly targeting upper middle-class consumers in large Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen,” said Isable Ge, a manager at Siemens China.

Ge underlined that the company has strengthened network security of their connected home appliances to better persuade consumers who are sensitive to privacy and data protection.

“At Siemens we believe that Wi-Fi security is the most important part of connected home appliances,” she said.

Both Bosch and Siemens said the rapidly growing income level of China’s middle-class customers, with their openness to latest technologies compared to that of western consumers, has turned on the green light for European brands.