LG Elec.-SM Ent. tie up to challenge Apple Fitness+

LG Electronics Inc. and SM Entertainment Co., South Korea’s giants in the home appliances and entertainment sectors, joined hands in the home workout industry to challenge Apple Fitness Plus.

LG and SM on Thursday launched a joint venture Fitness Candy for subscription-based home fitness services. Fitness Candy, in which the electronics maker has a 51% stake and the entertainment agency holds the rest, targets sales of 500 billion won ($387 million) by 2025 with 1 million subscribers.

“We can beat Apple by combining creative devices and content including K-pop dances,” said Fitness Candy CEO Shim Woo-taek, stressing its ultimate goal is to surpass Apple Fitness Plus, a subscription-based workout service. “Apple has a limit since it has yet to localize the service for each country while focusing only on exercise.”

SM, the label behind Red Velvet, plans to create content based on K-pop. LG is set to operate the platform including the app development and cloud establishment, as well as support the device manufacturing.

Fitness Candy aims to launch the service in the global market in the coming years, although the company did not provide further details such as a specific timeframe.

“We plan to expand the business into overseas markets in the near future once the ‘K-fitness’ grows into another K-culture,” Fitness Candy Vice President Kim Bee-oh, a former professional triathlete.

MORE EXPENSIVE THAN APPLE FITNESS PLUS

Fitness Candy is scheduled to start the business in September with subscription-based services that cost around 20,000-30,000 won per month, higher than a monthly fee of 9,900 won for Apple Fitness Plus in South Korea.

The JV plans to provide premium services including various content including sports, variety shows, documentaries and others that helps with healthy diets, rehabilitation and stress relief. It will also allow users to access a wide range of interactive fitness content featuring popular Korean celebrities such as a global fashion model Han Hye-jin.

Fitness Candy provides content in six categories - strength training, core strengthening, high-intensity interval training, dance, stretching and meditation. Content in each category will run for 10 to 40 minutes and will be updated weekly.

Fitness Candy plans to launch an app for installation in various operating systems and devices such as smartphones and smart TVs, providing interactive, personalized services that collect data from smart bands, cameras and exercise devices.

The company aims to introduce a variety of new devices that can be linked to its app, including one that can recognize and track users’ movements with an artificial intelligence camera and internet of things (IoT) platform of LG. The device will allow users to take virtual one-on-one coaching sessions and live-streamed exercise classes.

With the JV, LG may shift its business model, industry sources said.

“We will transform LG’s business paradigm from function-oriented home appliances into a customer experience-oriented company, transforming into a company that provides smart life solutions to deliver the best customer experience,” said LG CEO Cho Joo-wan.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.