Air purifier market growing fast in Korea

Published : Mar 22, 2017 - 12:58 Updated : Mar 22, 2017 - 12:58

The air purifier market in South Korea is expanding rapidly, largely due to surging demand as consumers are becoming more concerned about fine dust, industry data showed Wednesday.

The market size of air purifiers reached 1 trillion won ($888.4 million) at the end of 2016, soaring from 300 billion won in 2013, according to the latest findings. This year, it is forecast to grow by 50 percent on-year to a value of 1.5 trillion won.

(Yonhap)

Air purifier makers sold a combined 1 million units of the home appliance, including rentals, which doubled from the tally in 2014.

They are expecting to sell 1.4 million units in 2017, the data showed.

The rapid growth in the air purifier market is attributable to robust demand as wary consumers opt to have an air purifier at their homes to cope with worsening air conditions stemming from fine and yellow dust particles.

South Korea, particularly in the spring season, has been battling with fine dust and yellow dust every year, which are cited as one of the main reasons that cause respiratory symptoms. Yellow dust usually comes in from China.

Mid-sized manufacturers like Coway and Dayou Winia have led the market so far, but their shares are being challenged by big home appliance makers like Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, as they have recently joined the bandwagon to take the helm with their premium lineups.

The average price of an air purifier is priced at around 200,000-300,000 won. The factory price of Samsung's latest high-end Blue Sky was about 1 million won, with that of a similar model made by LG set at 1.5 million won. (Yonhap)