Ryu Jae-cheol, President of LG Electronics, "Aiming for 1 Trillion Won Built-in Sales Within 3 Years... Chinese Competitors to be Checked"

Meeting with Press at MDW 2024

Two-Track Strategy Targeting Europe with AI Home Appliances and Locally Customized New Products
"Countering China's Haier"

Ryu Jae-cheol, President of LG Electronics H&A Business Division, announced the goal of achieving 1 trillion KRW in sales in the global built-in business by 2027. In particular, the strategy is to accelerate the European market, the birthplace of built-in appliances, by leveraging AI technology, differentiated product capabilities, and design. The company to watch the most is China's Haier.

On the 16th (local time), at the world's largest design exhibition 'Milano Design Week (MDW) 2024' held in Milan, Italy, President Ryu told reporters, "The European market has experienced another growth momentum this year with the emergence of more convenient products featuring AI functions," adding, "Based on the success of the built-in business in the North American market, we will accelerate our European market strategy to create a meaningful business scale of 'global 1 trillion KRW'."

On the 16th (local time) at the world's largest design exhibition 'Milan Design Week (MDW) 2024' held in Milan, Italy, Ryu Jae-cheol, President of LG Electronics H&A Business Division, is speaking.
[Photo by Han Ye-joo]

According to market research firm Euromonitor, the European built-in market was valued at $21.2 billion last year, accounting for 42% of the global market. However, it is not easy to enter the market as local European brands such as Miele and Liebherr have already secured dominant positions. Currently, LG Electronics' global built-in business sales are estimated to be around 500 billion KRW.

President Ryu explained, "Compared to the B2C business we have been doing, the 1 trillion KRW target within three years may not seem large in terms of scale," adding, "However, the B2B business itself has high entry barriers. It takes a long time and the growth rate is slow. Naturally, the target is not just 1 trillion KRW, but we set it conservatively."

LG Electronics entered the European built-in market in early 2018 with its ultra-premium built-in brand 'Signature Kitchen Suite,' targeting the market through strategic collaborations with luxury furniture companies. At MDW 2024, the company also unveiled a new Signature Kitchen Suite lineup enhanced with AI features. They showcased the Freezone Induction with a 'Boiling Alarm' function that detects and predicts the boiling level of food to prevent water, soup, or sauce from overflowing, and an oven equipped with an AI camera that identifies ingredients and recommends over 130 different recipes with optimized settings.

President Ryu emphasized, "By strengthening the built-in portfolio with empathetic AI appliances that consider and resonate with customers and innovative local-customized new products, we will accelerate our European market strategy by providing optimized solutions to a wider range of customers."

On the 16th (local time), the LG Electronics booth at the world's largest design exhibition, "Milan Design Week (hereinafter MDW) 2024," held in Milan, Italy.
[Photo by Han Yeju]

In particular, LG plans to sophisticate its portfolio with a two-track strategy targeting both the ultra-premium and volume zones simultaneously. Last year at IFA, LG Electronics unveiled more mass-premium product lines such as the 'InstaView Oven' and 'Hood-integrated Induction' following the Signature Kitchen Suite.

President Ryu explained, "To strengthen competition with European local brands in the ultra-premium market, Signature Kitchen Suite approaches customers through premium furniture brands and dealer networks such as Siemetic, expanding mainly in Southern Europe including Italy, Spain, and France," adding, "Through this, we expect sales in Europe to reach 200% compared to last year."

He continued, "The volume zone product line targeting the mass-premium market is also expected to achieve sales at about 140% compared to last year in the European market, and we are preparing marketing targeting interior designers and construction companies," adding, "We will focus our capabilities on building infrastructure so that our products can quickly reach consumers."

On the 16th (local time), the China Haier booth at the world's largest design exhibition, "Milan Design Week (MDW) 2024," held in Milan, Italy.
Photo by Han Yeju

Meanwhile, when asked which company he is most closely watching in the built-in market, President Ryu named the Chinese company 'Haier.' He said, "Launching good products faster than competitors was the success formula we used in the past, and China is quickly adopting this approach," adding, "China is freely and actively shaping the market, so we are keeping a close watch on them."