[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] This year, the key themes in the furniture industry can be identified as 'smart,' 'personalization,' and 'eco-friendliness.' As the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), who have strong self-love and prioritize self-satisfaction, emerge as the main consumer base across the distribution market, the furniture industry is focusing on launching products that satisfy their practical, value-oriented, and self-loving consumption desires.
According to the furniture industry on the 2nd, Hanssem is collaborating with electronics and IT service companies such as LG Electronics, Google, and Shinsegae I&C to successively introduce total home interior solutions based on IoT technology. Hanssem's 'smart lighting' is a product that can control brightness and power according to the user's preferences. By presetting the color and brightness of the lighting to match the atmosphere of spaces such as bedrooms that induce deep sleep or living rooms that allow focused movie watching, users can control it all at once via voice commands through the Google AI speaker Google Home. It can also be linked with Hanssem motion beds to automatically adjust the bed angle. If the user snores, the upper part of the mattress slowly raises to alleviate snoring. There is also a function to gradually brighten the light starting a set time before the wake-up time. Even if the user goes out without turning off the lights, they can turn off the lights remotely using the Hanssem Home app.
Seungsu Kang, Chairman of Hanssem, presented a blueprint at his inauguration ceremony early last month, stating, "We will grow into a company that leads global changes beyond Korea in the digital era's global home interior market," aiming to become the 'Google' of the furniture industry.
Emons is releasing and selling the 'Emotion S2,' an ICT-integrated smart bed, as a new product for this spring and summer. In addition to motion bed functions, sensors installed in the bed provide information on temperature, humidity, brightness, and air quality. It also allows control of the bedroom environment. Bluetooth speakers and lighting are applied to the bed headboard, and a small refrigerator is installed in the bedside table. Various functions can be controlled through a dedicated app.
This year, furniture that fulfills consumers' desires to fill a space entirely with furniture perfectly suited to their daily lives is expected to gain popularity. Illoom's 'Dana' series centers around a bed that supports various activities and allows users to arrange items such as desks, bookshelves, and dressing tables according to their preferences, creating personalized spaces like beauty areas, studies, or home cinemas. The representative product, 'Dana Motion Bed Casual,' is characterized by its 'one bed, three benefits' effect, enabling rest, personal work, and storage all in one. A sliding desk that can move freely is attached to the bed, which has adjustable backrest and leg angles, supporting diverse activities such as watching videos and reading books in a comfortable posture tailored to the user.
Bodyfriend's 'Pharaoh II' massage chair helps users enjoy diverse and optimized relaxation according to their condition. This product features 24 automatic massage functions, a 'Brain Massage' function that relieves mental fatigue and aids concentration and memory improvement, and 'XD 3D Massage,' which adjusts the protrusion of massage balls according to body shape to provide customized massages.
Following the aftermath of the so-called 'Radon Bed Incident' that struck the furniture industry in 2018, high interest in 'eco-friendly' furniture is expected to continue this year. Hyundai Livart developed the eco-friendly material 'reinforced PET and antibacterial coated surface material' independently in the second half of last year, the first in the domestic furniture industry. Based on this capability, Livart plans to open the door to eco-friendly and premium quality for all furniture products and compete with differentiated quality against competitors.
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