Samsung clashes with LG in drum washer market
Models promote Samsung Electronics’ new Bubble Shot AddWash premium drum washing machine during a media event at the company’s office in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Yoon Sung-won
Samsung Electronics unveiled a new flagship drum washing machine Monday.
The company said its new Bubble Shot Addwash will give it a competitive edge against LG Electronics, the world’s leading washing machine manufacturer, in the premium sector.
“Like the ActiveWash, which is popular in the premium sector, the new Bubble Shot AddWash is designed to lessen inconvenience in doing laundry,” Samsung Electronics’ home appliances division executive vice president Park Byeong-dae said.
“We will continue to improve our products by thoroughly studying user experiences.”
Samsung and LG have engaged in intensifying competition in the premium washing machine market both at home and abroad by launching new models. Samsung rolled out the ActiveWash in July, posing a threat to LG’s Twin Wash drum washing machine.
Samsung Electronics has sold about 160,000 ActiveWashes in Korea alone, a company spokesman said.
The company now has two flagship models for both drum and non-drum washing machines to meet diverse demands.
The Bubble Shot AddWash is the world’s first drum washing machine with a window slot that allows the addition of detergent or conditioner while the machine is operating.
The company said users can also save water, detergent and time by pushing a pause button to stop the machine to put additional laundry into it and continue the washing. They can also set the washing machine to put the additional laundry in the washing, rinsing and drying cycles.
“Unlike washing machines with a vertical drum instead of a horizontal one, the latter did not allow users to add extra laundry while they were operating without completely stopping the machine and draining water,” a spokesman explained. “The AddWash is the first horizontal drum washing machine to allow this.”
The company said the new window slot can accommodate capsule-type detergents or sheet-type fabric conditioners that were hard to add through a regular one.
As a safety measure, it will not open unless the pause button has been pushed.
Samsung said the new model uses bubbles to make laundry better prepared for the washing processes.
The company said the Bubble Shot AddWash will be released in the Korean market today and rolled out in Europe, North America, China, Middle East, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States within the first half of next year.