LGE targets built-in home appliance market

Electronics giant to join hands with Viking Range to dominate market within 3 years


LG Electronics announced Thursday it will join hands with Viking Range Corp. to break into the ultra premium built-in home appliance market in Korea, possibly garnering over half of the market within three years.

Lee Young-ha, president of LG’s home appliance business, said the companies will be featuring two different sets of built-in home appliances ― the signature and professional series ― for the high-end premium market, also known as the very, very important person market, as early as this year.

“We’ve been taking preparation measures for the past four to five years because we believe we can’t enter the market without partnering with a really good brand,” said Lee in a press conference at its headquarters in Yeouido, central Seoul.

Viking, established in 1984 in Mississippi, is a famous name in the North American VVIP market that has launched overseas projects since 1997. The VVIP market is for those who possess financial assets amounting to more than 1 billion won. About 156,000 people are estimated to belong in that category in 2011 and the figure is expected to rise up to 200,000 in 2015, said a report published by Merrill Lynch.

LG Electronics-Viking will introduce the signature series, composed of eight different item in a European-style built-in kitchen set worth between 25-30 million won within this year, according to Lee. It will be followed by the professional series, focusing on the built-in cooking products such as a gas range, refrigerator and oven which will cost up to 40 million won, by the first half of next year.

As part of the co-branded efforts, the two firms will make their co-branded refrigerators, which will sell as built-in products here, at LG’s plant in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, and bring in Viking’s oven from abroad.

“Since LG is deemed to provide better after-sales services for customers in Korea, we will strongly support that part,” Lee said. “We, on the other hand, will get assistance from Viking when selling our product in the U.S. market since they are stronger in that region.”

Dale Persons, vice president of business development at Viking, said the company’s focus is currently on the South Korean ultra premium home appliance market although it does have plan to move onto other countries, such as China and Australia, in Asia.

“We think the Asian market has a tremendous amount of potential,” he said. “I’ve been with Viking for 22 years and the last 4-5 years in the U.S. have not been so much fun. (Entering overseas markets) is an excellent opportunity for us to grow in the future.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)