Tech giants eye growing home appliances subscription market

SEOUL: Subscription services in the home appliances market are fast expanding in South Korea, with the country s top players targeting younger and sma...

SEOUL: Subscription services in the home appliances market are fast expanding in South Korea, with the country’s top players targeting younger and smaller households.

LG Electronics, the country’s leading home appliance giant, has achieved a record sales figure surpassing the 1-trillion-won ($736bn) mark for its subscription service, and Samsung Electronics is also reviewing to launch a similar service for its home appliances in the latter half of the year.

For 2023, LG Electronics reported its appliance subscription service recorded sales of 962.9 billion won, up 31 percent on-year. Adding the care service subscription -- regular cleaning and performance checkups service -- the revenue amounts to 1.13 trillion won.

The figure accounts for about 20 percent of the company’s home appliances sales, LG Electronics said.

Last September, the company reorganized its appliance rental service, which centered on small devices such as water purifiers, into a subscription service and expanded the appliances category to include TVs and refrigerators among others.