Samsung Electronics Reorganizes Home Appliance Division

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are working on special measures to cope with the steep drop in sales of home appliances.

Samsung Electronics has recently divided the Kitchen and Living Development Groups under the Development Team of the Home Electronics Division into five development groups — the Refrigerator, Cooking Equipment, Dishwasher, Clothing Care, and Vacuum Cleaner. The Software Development Group under the Development Team was also subdivided into five groups by product group.

In early 2022, Samsung Electronics sent six executives from the Video Display (VD) and Mobile Experience (MX) Division to the development team of the Home Appliances Division. It also established a next-generation home appliance research team at Samsung Research, a leading research and development organization.

Samsung Electronics has completely overhauled the Home Appliance Division because it recorded a loss of 318 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2022, analysts say.

LG Electronics, the No. 1 global consumer electronics company, is placing a big bet on the electric vehicle business. The company is expected to try to offset the sluggishness in the home appliance sector with sales growth in the electric vehicle business.

IBK Investment & Securities estimated that LG Electronics’ H&A Division’s operating profit plunged from 445.5 billion won in the first quarter of last year to 19.2 billion won in the fourth quarter of the same year. Stock market analysts forecast that Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will enter a deficit tunnel in both TV and home appliance businesses in the first half of this year.

Unlike the Home Appliance Division, LG Electronics’ VS Division is estimated to have recorded operating profits from the second to fourth quarters of 2022 in a row, recording its first surplus on an annual basis. Its sales also reached 8 trillion won to 10 trillion won in 2022, which is estimated at 10 percent of LG Electronics’ total sales. Since the launch of the VS Business Division in 2013, the proportion of its sales in the automotive electronics domain has never exceeded 10 percent of its total sales. Industry insiders expect LG Electronics’ backlog of orders for electric vehicle business to reach more than 80 trillion won as of the end of 2022.