Refrigerating Competition
LG Electronics unleashed an aggressive marketing campaign to regain the number one position in the global refrigerator market. Its strategy is to strengthen the lineup of products with a launch of its new refrigerator that maximizes user convenience, and to recover market share with an increased investment in marketing.
“In fact, a lot of the design and functions of Samsung products are technically what we first started. We were somewhat ahead of the market trend,” said Cho Sung-jin, president of LG’s home appliance division. He made these comments at a launch event for its new DIOS refrigerator, which was held in LG Twin Towers, Seoul on Feb. 17.
The president added, “I think that if we continue to search for functions that can increase user convenience, we can create a change in the market.” His remarks show his confidence that LG can reclaim the top spot in the refrigerator market from Samsung by increasing user convenience and developing market-leading products.
According to market research firms and sources in the household appliance industry, LG was third in the global refrigerator market last year. The company’s 10 percent market share lags behind that of Samsung, the top-ranked refrigerator maker (15 percent).
President Cho also expressed his confidence in the competition with its rival Samsung for the capacity of a refrigerator. He commented, “We can more increase the capacity of a refrigerator as long as user convenience is guaranteed. However, after conducting a customer survey, we found out that the most favored maximum capacity of a refrigerator was 950 liters.” He added, “At the end of this year, we will have interesting results that reflect consumer judgments about the capacity.” His comments were aimed at Samsung’s 1,000 liter refrigerator showcased at CES 2014, the world’s largest consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 7 to 10.
In addition, he pointed out that LG has decided to increase its investment in non-flagship products excluding refrigerators and washing machines in 2014, so that it can become the top-ranked household appliance manufacturer in 2015. The president said, “Our goal of becoming the world’s number one household appliance maker next year is unchanged. In particular, last year’s sales figures for refrigerators and washing machines went beyond our expectations.” He also stressed, “We are planning to launch an aggressive sales drive for ovens, built-in appliances, and vacuum cleaners starting this year, since they represent a sizable share of household appliances.”
At the event, the Korean tech giant unveiled its new DIOS V9500 refrigerator with increased storage spaces. This new product has a refrigerator compartment at the top and a freezer compartment at the bottom. Its storage spaces increased to 86 liters from the existing 47 liters with a new “Magic Space” on the left door of the refrigerator compartment, in addition to the original one placed on the right door.