According to BusinessKorea, LG Electronics recently launched the smart home solution “UP Home Appliances 2.0”, which allows home appliances including washing machines and dryers to install and uninstall apps like smartphones. LG has previously focused on making premium hardware products, and the new plan expands its business to offer services and subscriptions for those products.
▲ Picture source LG official website
Ryu Jae-cheol, head of LG Electronics’ Home Appliances Division, said: “Customers tend to use home appliances of different types and functions according to their lifestyle. We will provide devices that are precisely tailored to each individual’s lifestyle.” UP appliances, which debuted last year, are able to update software and add new functions, just like updating a smartphone’s operating system.
The UP Home Appliance 2.0 released by LG aims to achieve “ultra-personalization”. Just like people can install and delete necessary applications on their smartphones, UP Home Appliance 2.0 will provide similar support for devices.
It is learned from officials that in order to achieve this goal, LG will apply AI chips and operating systems in home appliances. For this reason, the company has been researching and developing internally for more than three years. The new features will first be applied to the washing machines and dryers released yesterday.
LG has also introduced a device subscription system that combines hardware products with non-hardware services, and consumers can choose a three- to six-year subscription period. “From a consumer’s point of view, it reduces the initial product purchase cost, and it can be cheaper when hardware and software are ordered together,” an LG Electronics official explained.
