South Korea’s LG Electronics yesterday unveiled a refrigerator that suggests recipes as it forecast a bright future in the potentially lucrative market for “smart” household appliances.
LG will roll out smart fridges, washers and other appliances in South Korea and North America before the end of this year to compete against rivals, including Samsung Electronics and Whirlpool, Lee Young-ha, president of the home appliance unit, told reporters.
LG, South Korea’s second-largest consumer electronics maker after Samsung, showcased its first smart product — a refrigerator connected to a home Wi-Fi network and which can be controlled by a smartphone.
Photo: AFP
CONVENIENCE
“By the end of the year, when our full range is introduced, consumers will be able to stay in contact with their appliances at any time, enjoying greater convenience and seeing real-life, real-time improvements in energy consumption and time savings,” Lee said.
The smart fridge offers three energy-saving options, as well as a “food management system,” which tells users what is in their fridge, where it is and when its sell-by date expires.
The information is available via smartphones or tablets and can be accessed from a grocery store or restaurant. LG boasts the machine can even suggest healthy recipes based on what foods are currently available.
The product costs about 3.6 million won (US$3,296) and is expected to account for about 20 to 30 percent of LG’s refrigerator sales in South Korea this year, Lee said, without giving a global sales target.
Other items including ovens and camera-embedded vacuum cleaners remotely controlled by smartphones or tablet computers will be introduced later this year, he added.
LUCRATIVE MARKET
Market research firm Pike Research predicts the global market for smart home appliances will take off in earnest in 2013 and reach US$26.1 billion in sales by 2019.
In 2000, LG introduced a refrigerator connected to the Internet that met with a lukewarm response.
“Now things are different, with Wi-Fi networks everywhere, smartphones so common and prices far more affordable,” said Kim Young-soo, vice president of LG’s home appliance unit.
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