LG Electronics secured the top position in the U.S. drum washer market in terms of sales in the third quarter of 2009. It was the 11 consecutive quarter for LG to rank first. The company said it has exceeded 1 million units in production on a monthly basis at its seven plants at home and abroad.
It is the first time for a South Korean consumer electronics maker to pass over a 1 million production capacity monthly as a single brand said LG.
Whirlpool of the United States ranked first in the overall washing machine sector but it has a number of production sub-brands.
Company officials say the strong result is mostly due to the healthy demand for featured-loaded premium and high pricing drum washers and a solid partnership with a big retailer, Sears.
According to the data from Stevenson, a market research firm covering the consumer electronics-related industries, LG’s American portion in drum washers as of the end of third quarter was 22.8 percent, followed by Whirlpool with 17.7 percent.
“In order to meet customer demands for such products at the right timing, LG has been fully operating factories in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Russia, India and Brazil as well as South Korea,” a company spokeswoman Sally Seung-yeon Lee said.
“Increased production efficiency has helped us better penetrate into the U.S. drum washer sector,” Lee added.
The market only for drum washers in the United States is reaching over 40 percent of an estimated total of 8 million washing machines, according to the research firm.
Impressed by such brighter result, LG is planning to keep the ongoing leadership in the U.S. home appliances-related sectors with in-timing products delivery and an array of customer-friendly goods.
Officials say the recent win over Whirlpool in patents will help the South Korean player further boost brand images of its main products.
In October, U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) judge has ruled LG has not infringed Whirlpool’s patent for ice storage bins placed in refrigerator doors.
The ruling prevents the USITC from granting any relief to Whirlpool.
“Established appliance makers like Whirlpool and Electrolux are facing new competition as entrants such as LG and Samsung Electronics offer more high-end products,” an analyst at a local brokerage said.