The 'Hyperconnected Appliances' Global War Begins... LG ThinQ Up Launches in the US, Declares '500 Million Subscribers' as Rival to Samsung

LG Electronics will launch the UP home appliance overseas brand 'ThinQ UP' starting in the United States early next year. Above is an alarm for the LG washing machine upgrade feature addition. Below is a customer downloading new features from the LG ThinQ app Upgrade Center. (Photo by LG Electronics)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] LG Electronics will launch an app related to the product upgrade service 'UP Appliances' in the United States early next year. The company plans to introduce a brand called 'ThinQ UP,' named after its flagship smart home platform 'ThinQ.' Considering that LG ThinQ is positioned as a rival to Samsung Electronics' 'SmartThings,' which has declared a goal of '500 million subscribers within 5 years,' the 'hyper-connectivity' competition has effectively begun overseas as well.

On the 28th, LG Electronics announced that it will expand the UP Appliances 'ThinQ UP' service globally, starting with the United States early next year. The rollout will begin in countries with a large number of LG ThinQ app users. UP Appliances is a service that Ryu Jae-cheol, President of the H&A (Home Appliance & Air Solution) Business Division, has been focusing on; it links already purchased products to the ThinQ app to provide upgrades.

It is important to note that ThinQ UP is a service linked to premium built-in appliances targeting penetration in advanced markets such as North America. LG Electronics has been actively entering the North American market since earlier this year by linking UP Appliances services to built-in appliances like the 'Signature Kitchen Suite' and 'LG Studio.'

At CES 2023, the world's largest home appliance and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, on January 5 next year, LG plans to showcase various UP Appliances, including the MoodUP refrigerator. Visitors will be able to add new features through the ThinQ app at the LG Electronics exhibition hall. Previously, LG Electronics first introduced the MoodUP refrigerator at IFA 2022, Europe's largest home appliance exhibition held in September at Messe Berlin, Germany. It is praised for its high interior design utility due to its feature of changing colors to match the mood when music linked to the ThinQ app is played.

LG Electronics is selling high-quality 'super-premium' appliances such as the MoodUP refrigerator linked with UP Appliances services. Since the UP Appliances announcement, it has released 24 types of products including washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, and dishwashers, and distributed over 120 upgrade contents.

More than 6,000 customer-suggested ideas have been applied to the upgrade service. Over half of the upgrade contents distributed this year were created based on customer ideas. A representative example is the addition of the 'precise water dispensing' function to the Dios Objet Collection ice water purifier refrigerator. By downloading content from the ThinQ app UP Appliances center, users can dispense water in precise amounts of 250 ml, 500 ml, and 1 liter.

The recently added 'Knit Cardigan Care Course' for the Styler is also noteworthy. It is an improved version that addresses the problem of shoulders protruding after care due to the hanger. LG Electronics explains that this is an example of realizing the 'F.U.N' experience it advocates, which stands for providing the First, Unique, and New experience in the world.

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What is notable is that the competition for 'hyper-connected appliances' services linked to the ThinQ app has started to heat up in overseas markets as well. LG Electronics, which had not previously disclosed the subscription status related to the ThinQ app, announced on this day that the registration rate of the ThinQ app increased by 10 percentage points compared to the previous year over the past year. This has drawn even more attention due to the explosive growth in subscribers of the rival platform Samsung SmartThings.

Earlier, on September 1 (local time), Han Jong-hee, Vice Chairman and Head of the DX (Device Experience) Division at Samsung Electronics, stated at the IFA 2022 press conference that they plan to increase SmartThings subscribers from the current 200 million to 500 million within 5 years, calling this year the 'first year of SmartThings popularization.' However, Samsung SmartThings has been criticized for including all users who have the default app installed on Galaxy S smartphones and other devices in its subscriber count, leading to concerns about inflated numbers. The registration rate announced by LG Electronics this day counts not just those who installed the app but those who linked purchased products to the app and actually experienced concrete 'customer experience (CX).'

Regarding the registration rate rising by more than 10 percentage points in one year, LG Electronics explained, "Among customers who linked UP Appliances to the LG ThinQ app, half upgraded their (purchased) products to add new features," adding, "This means that the perception that customers can use UP Appliances more smartly and conveniently through the LG ThinQ app is spreading."

President Ryu Jae-cheol said about the ThinQ UP launch in the U.S., "We plan to expand UP Appliances, which have been recognized for differentiated customer value domestically, to the global market," and added, "We will continue to evolve UP Appliances so that customers can enjoy a better life."

SmartThings Daily Life Encyclopedia Campaign Image. (Photo by Samsung Electronics)

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