LG to expand appliance subscriptions to India to speed up leasing business

LG Electronics Inc., the leading global home appliance maker, is considering expanding its subscription service into new overseas markets, such as India, the world’s most populous country, to accelerate growth in the leasing business.

The South Korean tech giant has already launched the service, which allows customers to lease 300 products of 23 different kinds, such as TVs and washing machines, instead of purchasing in various markets, including Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan. This follows its success at home, where many consumers rent LG appliances by paying a monthly fee.

LG aims to expand its markets with more products as subscriptions become more and more popular, a company official said on Thursday.

“The service has been well received as it reduces the initial burden of purchasing home appliances and allows customers to use products under expert management such as cleaning and replacing consumables,” said the official.

ON COURSE FOR RECORD SALES

LG’s subscription business is on course for record-high sales this year.

The business, excluding care services such as repair, cleaning and maintenance, reported sales of 1.2 trillion won ($880.6 million) in the first nine months of the year, surpassing revenue of 962.8 billion won all of 2023, according to its latest quarterly earnings report.

LG in August unveiled a sales target of 1.8 trillion won from subscription and care services this year, which is expected to account for more than 20% of the company’s total home appliance sales, up from 15% in 2023.

The company expanded products for the subscriptions to include home premium ventilation systems, the CLOi robot lineup and others after adding TVs, laptops, refrigerators and washing machines.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at why29@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.