Sales of kimchi refrigerators have shown a sharp uptick in the past year. (Image : LG Electronics)
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Sales of kimchi refrigerators have shown a sharp uptick in the past year.
The appliances, which have a typical replacement period of 10 years, are in high demand with an increase in the number of people moving due to soaring rental costs.
According to Emart, total sales of kimchi refrigerators from January to September this year increased 30.2 percent compared to the same period last year. Considering that sales of kimchi refrigerators last year stopped at a 1.5 percent growth rate, and that the sales of refrigerators only increased 9 percent from January to September this year, the increase is very noticeable.
Kimchi refrigerators made their debut in 1995, and sold well until the mid 2000s, as kimchi is a ‘life necessity’ among Korean people. However, with most households having already purchased one of the new devices, sales started to drop from the late 2000s.
According to data on the power consumption behavior of households, the distribution rate of kimchi refrigerators in 2013 was 0.86 per house. Considering that the rate went up in two years, the distribution rate now is estimated to be 0.9 per household.
Home electronics industry watchers see the replacement period of kimchi refrigerators as approximately 10 years, and say that there will be demand to change old Kimchi refrigerators to new ones this year.
In addition, Emart officials added that as the demand for moving is rapidly increasing, sales of kimchi refrigerators are also rising.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
