LG Electronics on Wednesday unveiled new refrigerator and water purifier products, saying it would seek synergies between the two home appliances to differentiate itself in the premium market.

LG entered the water purifier market in 2009 and combined the business with the refrigerator division in 2014. Based on their technological synergies, the company was the first to launch a water purifier refrigerator in Korea in 2013. 

LG said it would apply its new PuriCare brand to water purifiers. The PuriCare was launched last year as part of the company’s renewed push for air purifier and humidifier products.

“We have found that water purifiers and refrigerators can work closely. The key technologies of refrigerators such as invert compressor can create synergies when adopted for water purifiers,” LG’s appliance chief and president Cho Seong-jin at a press conference in Seoul.

“We will more than double sales of PuriCare water purifiers and Dios water purifier refrigerators this year.”

He also showed high expectations about global sales. The company plans to target Southeast Asia, including India and Thailand, with water purifiers, while appealing to advanced markets with its premium water purifier refrigerators.

“We have well-built brand awareness in India where our washing machines and refrigerators enjoy almost 50 percent of the market share,” Cho said, pinning especially high hopes on the Indian market.

The company said it sold 20,000 water purifiers in India alone last year and plans to increase the sales figure to 70,000 units this year.

“When it comes to refrigerators, it is no more a competition on capacity. Improving convenience and reducing energy consumption have become the key factors,” Cho said, citing upgraded products like the company’s own water purifier refrigerators.

The water purifier refrigerators make up more than 10 percent of the company’s high-end refrigerator sales. The company also hires some 1,300 managers to offer regular check-ups on the water purifiers.

The company plans to expand premium models priced at more than 4 million won ($3,260) this year, elevating the total water purifier refrigerator sales by 25 percent from last year. 

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)