Dyson Losing Ground in Korean Vacuum Cleaner Market
Dyson, a British home appliance manufacturer, continues to fall in the Korean premium vacuum cleaner market, losing second place to Samsung Electronics.
An industry insider said on Nov. 20 that a recent market survey has found that LG Electronics leads the vacuum cleaner market with a 50-plus percent share, while Samsung Electronics and Dyson each have a 20-plus percent share, with Samsung slightly ahead of the U.K. firm.
Dyson had led the Korean wireless vacuum cleaner market until the end of 2017 but its share recently fell to the 20 percent range.
The Korean market for wireless vacuum cleaners remained at 500,000 units a year in 2016, but grew rapidly to 700,000 units in 2017 and one million units in 2018. This year, the market is expected to hit 1.4 million units.
LG Electronics is maintaining its lead while latecomer Samsung Electronics is increasing its market share to the mid-20 percent level with its premium cleaner “Jet,” industry watchers say. In contrast, Dyson's market share is on a steady decline.
Some Korean consumers were dissatisfied with Dyson's high-price policy in Korea and directly bought Dyson products from overseas sellers. In fact, the price of the Dyson V10 Absolute Plus in the Korean market is 300,000 won to 400,000 won higher than that for overseas purchases.
In addition, Dyson is fueling consumers’ dissatisfaction with battery performance and after-sale service issues. Dyson said in April that it would improve service quality by opening a directly managed service center, but reversed its position later this year. In addition, Dyson products directly bought from overseas sellers are not accepted by the service centers that provide services for Dyson on consignment basis, angering consumers who bought them.
Recently, Dyson announced, launching a new product in Korea for the first time in the world, that it will launch three new premium centers and seven AS centers specializing in Dyson products. However, industry observers say that it will be a big challenge for Dyson to regain trust from Korean consumers.