LG unveils new home appliances upgradable like smartphones

LG Electronics Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new set of home appliances upgradable through apps just like a smartphone as the company aims to transform into a platform-based tech giant.

The South Korean home appliance maker also said it will expand its business scope to become an after-sales service provider that offers a subscription-based business model.

Under the “UP Appliances 2.0” brand, LG unveiled four new upgradable electronics products – a washing machine, a dryer, a refrigerator and an air purifier – and said it will gradually expand its lineup of such goods.

With the new lineup, consumers can update their home appliances through the smart home ThinQ application to add new functions and features. They can also remove functions or features that they don’t often use.

“Through software updates just like a smartphone operating system, you can add features to products you already have,” said Ryu Jae-chul, president and head of LG’s appliance and air solutions division at a press conference at LG Science Park, its research center.

“The UP Appliances 2.0 marks the starting point of our move into a service-based business. We’ll lead the industry’s paradigm shift toward HaaS, or Home as a Service,” he said.

To make its home appliances upgradable, LG said it has developed a new smart home appliance AI chip, dubbed DQ-C, and a new operating system.

LG launched a set of upgradable home appliances last year to meet various consumer requests.

SUBSCRIPTION BUSINESS MODEL

LG also said it has partnered with service providers to help reduce customers’ household chores.

It has teamed up with Laundrygo to provide contactless laundry services. In partnership with LG Household & Health Care Ltd., it offers a detergent delivery service.

LG also provides a helper service via Daerijubu, a household cleaning company.

Separately, LG Electronics is introducing a subscription business model to offer product maintenance and repair services free of charge to its consumers.

Consumers can choose a subscription period of between 3 and 6 years.

The launch of the UP Appliances 2.0 line of products comes as a follow-up to the company’s Vision 2030 strategy announced in mid-July.

Unveiling a new business strategy aimed at transforming into a platform-based tech giant from a traditional home appliance maker, Chief Executive Cho Joo-wan said LG aims to achieve 100 trillion won ($77.5 billion) in annual sales by 2030, up sharply from 65 trillion won in 2022.

Under its Vision 2030, the CEO said LG will pursue three growth drivers, by: increasing sales of non-hardware products, promoting a business-to-business (B2B) model and exploring new growth areas such as electric vehicle charging and digital health.

The three sectors will account for more than half of LG’s annual sales and operating profit by 2030, he said.

Write to Ye-Rin Choi at rambutan@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.