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Samsung expands customizable home appliance lineup

By Yonhap

Published : March 9, 2021 - 10:32

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This photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday, shows Lee Jae-seung, who heads Samsung's home appliance business, introducing the company's customizable BESPOKE home appliances. (Samsung Electronics Co.) This photo provided by Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday, shows Lee Jae-seung, who heads Samsung's home appliance business, introducing the company's customizable BESPOKE home appliances. (Samsung Electronics Co.)
Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday said it will expand its lineup of customizable home appliances that allow consumers to better reflect their lifestyles as the South Korean tech giant aims to boost sales amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend.

Samsung said its concept of BESPOKE will be applied to all of its home appliance products as it introduced BESPOKE HOME solutions designed to help consumers decorate their entire home space with various customizable products.

BESPOKE is a concept promoted by Samsung that allows consumers to tailor their own configurations by material, color and modules to meet user preference in home appliance selections.

Samsung said 17 BESPOKE HOME products, which include refrigerators, air conditioners and vacuum cleaners, will be available in the first half of the year.

Its new BESPOKE refrigerator comes with 22 types of door panels and offers consumers a selection of 360 colors. The four-door fridge, which comes with a price tag between 2.89 million won ($2,500) and 4.69 million won, will also have an embedded water dispenser inside the door.

Samsung said its BESPOKE water purifier, which was first introduced at the all-digital Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2021 in January, will go on sale later this month, while its Jet stick vacuum cleaner also will be launched this month.

Samsung added its shoe care appliance, the BESPOKE Shoe Dresser, will be launched in May.

In a press conference, Lee Jae-seung, who heads Samsung's consumer appliance business, said the company wants to see BESPOKE-branded products represent 80 percent of its home appliance revenue in South Korea, and it will introduce such products to more countries.

Samsung already launched its BESPOKE products in countries such as Russia, Sweden and China last year. For this year, it plans to sell the products in the United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 

To better meet consumers' needs, Samsung said a lifetime warranty will be applied to its BESPOKE HOME and products released in 2021, offering free repair or replacement of digital inverter compressors and motors for life. Samsung previously offered 10-year warranty for free repairs

A digital inverter compressor is a core component for refrigerators and air conditioners that converts the refrigerant from gas to liquid. A digital inverter motor is a part used in appliances like washers and vacuum cleaners.

To expand its BESPOKE ecosystem, Samsung also vowed to team up with various partners.

In design, Samsung said it joined hands with US paint brand Benjamin Moore to offer more color selections to consumers. The company also partnered with local furniture maker Hanssem.

In the area of content, Samsung said it joined forces with Kakao Enterprises, CJ CheilJedang and Coupang to offer various services related with its Internet of Things (IoT) platform SmartThings.

Starting this month, Samsung's smart devices and home appliances will be compatible with the Kakao AI platform from Kakao Enterprise, an affiliate of Kakao Corp. that runs South Korea's most-used mobile messenger, Kakao Talk.

With local food maker CJ CheilJedang, Samsung cooperated on easy cooking solutions for home meal replacement products on its ovens or microwaves. With local online retailer Coupang, Samsung allowed users to easily shop for detergents that are compatible with its washers. (Yonhap)