New trends of home appliance brands

"Subscription" is a way for LG and Samsung to bring the initial price of high-end home appliances down to a more accessible level for users. Photo: Phuong Lam .

Success in the high-end home appliance market is always the goal that companies aim for. However, not everyone is willing to spend a large amount of money to own a clothes dryer or refrigerator, washing machine worth tens to hundreds of millions.

Even in South Korea, home to two major home appliance manufacturers, LG and Samsung, this is a problem that needs to be solved. LG seems to have found a solution with a service that is both familiar and unfamiliar: home appliance subscriptions.

The South Korean electronics giant has actually experimented with a subscription model with water purifiers. By 2023, it will expand to large appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and TVs.

In fact, LG Electronics' "subscription" model is similar to buying goods on installments. Users pay a small fee compared to the value of the appliance, pay additional monthly fees, and after a certain period of time, about 3-7 years, the device will be completely owned by the user.

The difference between this service and “installment payment” is that users also receive product care and maintenance services in addition to the warranty during the subscription period. For example, with air purifiers or air conditioners, the service includes cleaning and filter replacement.

For expensive products, this can be a significant added value. Not having to worry about maintenance and repair is one of the main drivers for customers to choose LG, according to Hwang Seong-il, head of LG's Subscription Services Operations Team.

According to LG, this service in Korea has been expanded to almost the entire range of the company's products, including TVs, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, air purifiers, etc.

After just two years, the results are remarkable. According to data shared by LG Electronics representatives at an event in April, in just 18 months from the beginning of 2023, the number of customers choosing subscription services instead of buying directly increased from 0.4% to more than 37%. Revenue from home appliance subscription services in 2024 reached 1.24 billion USD , up 73.7% compared to 2023 (about 714 million USD ).

At CES 2025, LG Electronics CEO Jo Joo-wan announced a subscription revenue target of 6 trillion won (about $4.45 billion ) by 2030, three times that of 2024.

In addition to the price, the subscription packages of the companies also provide maintenance service packages, a factor that helps users worry less when using expensive household appliances. Photo: Minh Khoi.

Compatriot Samsung is not missing out on this opportunity either. In late 2024, Samsung announced a similar device subscription service, with a variety of smaller service packages for users to choose from. The company also emphasized AI with its SmartThings platform, providing users with information such as analysis of device performance, errors, and power consumption.

The Korea Herald quoted an industry source as saying that Samsung entered the market to find a way out for the home appliance industry, which is experiencing stagnant growth.

The KT Economic Management Research Institute forecasts that the subscription market in South Korea, including home appliances, will grow from 40.1 trillion won (about 29.73 billion USD ) in 2020 to 100 trillion won (about 74.15 billion USD ) by the end of 2025.

In addition to South Korea, LG has launched the service in several other markets such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand in 2024, and plans to add India, Singapore and Hong Kong to the list of places where the subscription service will be available.

Sharing at the event in April, a representative of LG Electronics said that Vietnam is not yet in the plan to open a home appliance subscription service.

Source: https://znews.vn/xu-huong-moi-cua-cac-hang-gia-dung-post1552915.html