Samsung Electronics America, Inc. is proud to announce the rankings and results of J.D. Power’s 2019 Kitchen and Laundry Appliance Satisfaction studies.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. is proud to announce the rankings and results of J.D. Power’s 2019 Kitchen and Laundry Appliance Satisfaction studies. As the number one selling brand of major appliances1,Samsung has achieved number one rankings in both Laundry and Kitchen, ranking the highest in five out of nine categories.

Consumer satisfaction was measured on a 1000-point scale and was based on six factors: ease of use, features, performance and reliability, price, styling and appearance, and warranty. Highlights of this year’s study include:

In Front-Load Washers, Samsung ranked number one for the second year in a row out of 5 brands and performed highest in ease of use, performance and reliability, price, styling and appearance and features.

In Top-Load Washers, Samsung ranked number one out of 5 brands and performed highest in performance and reliability, price, ease of use, features, styling and appearance and warranty.

In Clothes Dryers, Samsung ranked number one out of 5 brands and performed highest in performance and reliability, price, ease of use, features, styling and appearance and warranty.

In Freestanding Ranges, Samsung ranked number one out of 6 brands and performed highest in performance and reliability, ease of use, styling and appearance, features and warranty.
In Over-the-Range Microwaves, Samsung ranked number one out of 6 brands and performed highest inperformance and reliability, ease of use, price, styling and appearance and features.
“At Samsung, we are proud to be recognized by J.D. Power’s Appliance Satisfaction studies on such a broad scale,” said John Herrington, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Home Appliances, Samsung Electronics America.“The J.D. Power results are invigorating and reinforce our commitment to unique design and innovation. As we focus on our 2019 and 2020 line-ups, we are excited to bring more cutting-edge products to the market that inspire consumers and achieve the level of performance our consumers have come to expect.”

About J.D. Power
J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. These capabilities enable J.D. Power to help its clients drive customer satisfaction, growth and profitability. Established in 1968, J.D. Power has offices serving North America, South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

1 TraQline, Number 1 market share of large U.S. home appliance from 2016 to current (Q1 2019)

Samsung to Outsource Manufacture of Low-End Appliances

Samsung will outsource the manufacture of low-cost home appliances to other companies amid dwindling profits from the business.

Industry insiders said Samsung is looking for factories to outsource the production of low-end refrigerators, air purifiers and other home appliances. Samsung will handle research and development, product design and marketing, but the actual products sold under its brand will be manufactured elsewhere.

Samsung will outsource the manufacture of low-cost home appliances to other companies amid dwindling profits from the business.

The move signals a sea change for Korean conglomerates, which have long insisted on making even less profitable appliances in their own factories, first in Korea and then, as labor costs rose, in China and Vietnam.

Samsung is mainly eyeing Chinese manufacturers, according to an industry insider, starting with refrigerators and small washing machines.

A Samsung staffer said, “We will keep producing high-value-added products such as semiconductors, TVs and smartphones.”

Last year, Samsung suffered losses from two low-priced refrigerator models due to high manufacturing overheads. Profit-loss simulations showed that outsourcing their manufacture would save costs and produce W250 billion in additional profits. (US$1=W1,189).

The company also lost money from modifying production lines and purchasing vast amounts of parts for its bewildering range of products amid intensifying competition from low-priced Chinese rivals.

“We will pursue a two-track approach by continuing to manufacture premium home appliances at our factory in Gwangju while outsourcing low-priced products,” the staffer said.

Samsung has been looking to cut costs for decades. It set up factories in Malaysia in 1991 and expanded to Suzhou, China, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Poland and Mexico to make affordable products for sale there.

Outsourcing production entirely is the logical next step. Home appliances are not Samsung’s mainstay and only account for some nine percent of its sales in an oversaturated market.

Song Jae-yong at Seoul National University said, “There are concerns that Korea could lose production knowhow if the manufacture of an entire line of products is outsourced, but transferring production of low-value-added products can cut costs, boost efficiency and help corporate management.”

Samsung Electronics’ BESPOKE Refrigerator

The BESPOKE refrigerator, a customizable refrigerator recently launched by Samsung Electronics, is getting favorable reviews from overseas media outlets. With the new refrigerator, customers can customize their own configurations of material, color, sizing and other feature choices. It comes in eight sizes and nine color panels, allowing the customer to build a refrigerator depending on their taste, residential space and family size.

Samsung Electronics said on July 4 that Fast Company, a U.S. economic media outlet, recently reviewed BESPOKE in an article entitled “This just might be the world’s most beautiful refrigerator. The article says, “Built from any combination of colors and door configurations, Bespoke’s modular color blocks assemble to look like anything from a stylish locker to an armoire designed by Piet Mondrian.”

“Samsung Electronics has proved that fridges can be as fashionable as they are functional with the release of its new line of BESPOKE refrigerators,” said a reviewer at Reviewed.com, a U.S. website that reviews and recommends products to help readers buy the stuff they need. “The refrigerators look more like abstract artwork than a family fridge.”

Samsung Electronics said that the BESPOKE refrigerator attracted a lot of attention from visitors to the Project Prism showroom, which was launched on July 4 at the Main Gangnam Branch of the Samsung Digital Plaza in Seoul. Project Prism features home appliances that can fit into any lifestyle by allowing customers to personalize the materials, colors, shapes and designs of the products. The number of visitors surpassed 10,000 in four weeks since the refrigerator was launched. The visitors included journalists from Latin America.

“The characteristics of millennial consumers factored in BESPOKE are not limited to Korea, but are global trends,” said Yang Hye-soon, managing director of the Household Appliance Business Division at Samsung.