Coway keeps No.1 spot in Malaysia’s water purifier market for 10 years

South Korea’s home appliance rental service provider Coway Co. has maintained the top position in Malaysia’s water purifier rental market for 10 straight years. Coway is the dominant industry leader in Korea as well, controlling almost 50% of the water purifier market.

Coway’s first-quarter revenue in Malaysia recorded 240 billion won ($213 million), about 33% of the full-year revenue in the country last year at 708 billion won ($626 million), according to the company.

Based on the strong first-quarter results, Mirae Asset Securities Co. projected that Coway’s overseas revenue, most of which are generated in Malaysia, will reach 1.127 trillion won ($996 million) this year. Coway’s total overseas revenue last year was 896 billion won ($792 million).

Another securities firm Hana Financial Investment Co. forecasted that Coway will raise 1.08 trillion won ($954 million) in revenue in Malaysia alone this year.

Coway entered Malaysia in 2006 and has been the country’s water purifier market leader since 2010, driven by its unique visiting service model that had proved successful in Korea. The model allows close communication between customers and the company through its representatives who make regular visits to sites where the water purifiers are installed.

Coway was also the first company in Malaysia to receive Halal certification for water purifier products. The company’s other range of offerings in Malaysia includes air purifiers, mattresses and bathroom products such as bidet.

“Our strong performance comes from sustained efforts in brand marketing and continued expansion of localized products,” said a Coway representative.

STRONG BRAND MARKETING DRIVEN BY BTS

The company in April has appointed BTS as its brand ambassador in a move to strengthen its brand image in Malaysia. According to YouTube statistics, Malaysia boasts the world’s 11th-largest views of BTS videos on the platform.

Coway even created a Malaysia-specific mattress advertisement on YouTube featuring BTS. Offered in both Malay and Chinese languages, the clips respectively recorded 1.2 million and 2.7 million views in just three weeks.

“We are going to strengthen our marketing initiatives on social media, especially the YouTube channel frequently used by Malaysia’s youth,” said Coway.

Coway Malaysia’s Facebook page has around 159,000 followers, a number similar to that of Coway Korea at 161,000.  

Write to Hee-eun Yoon at soul@hankyung.com
Daniel Cho edited this article.