Samsung India targeting leadership in fully automatic washing machines

Samsung is targeting leadership in the fully automatic washing machine segment in India by Diwali on back of a new product portfolio of aggressive priced fully connected models.

The company’s senior vice president (consumer electronics) Raju Pullan told ET that Samsung is currently the second largest washing machine manufacturer in India and wants to become the leader on back of the new artificial intelligence (AI) enabled connected models. He said Samsung currently has 24.6% share in the fully automatic segment and is targeting 32% share by Diwali.

“We have launched 21 new washing machine models of which 16 are AI connected models. The pricing premium is just 7-8% over the non-AI models and we understand from the market that consumers will absorb this and will help us to rapidly gain share,” said Pullan.

Korean rival, LG leads the washing machine segment in India. Fully automatic is around 60% of the washing machine market in India and balance 40% is semi- automatic models. Washing machine penetration in India is at 16% right now.

The fully automatic segment has got a huge boost post Covid as households want to reduce their daily chores. Pullan said Samsung's distribution reach has grown 1.5 times in smaller towns since the Covid unlocking in India.

The latest product portfolio will allow consumers to connect remotely with the washing machine and will support English and Hindi languages though Samsung is going to add regional languages too.

“Between July to December 2020, the washing machine market grew by 9% and expected to grow by 20% in 2021. We expect to grow by 51% allowing us to become market leaders,” said Pullan.

Pullan said the surge in demand for home appliances post Covid last year has not come down in the January to March quarter as well.