The IoT home appliance market is growing at an average annual rate of 48%, becoming the core of the smart home.
The government says it is focusing on technology development (R&D), taxation, finance, and human resource support…

With just a smartphone, you can check what's inside the refrigerator and the expiration dates of food items from anywhere. You can remotely operate not only the washing machine but also the robot vacuum cleaner. Since the vacuum cleaner is equipped with a camera, it also provides CCTV functionality for the inside of your home.

This is not the image of future home appliances. Although there are still many shortcomings to call it a complete Home IoT (Internet of Things), these are undeniably IoT appliances appearing one by one in our homes.

The intelligent home appliance industry, which plays a leading role in smart homes or Home IoT, is expected to expand significantly in the new year. The global smart home market is projected to grow from $60 billion in 2015 to $133.6 billion in 2020, with IoT appliances expected to grow at an average annual rate of 48%, rising from $5.2 billion in 2015 to $34 billion in 2020. Last year, the domestic smart home market was estimated at 10 trillion won, with IoT appliances accounting for 3.3 trillion won.


▲ LG Electronics robot vacuum cleaner

Accordingly, the government decided to foster Internet of Things (IoT) appliances as a new growth industry for the future and expressed enthusiasm for promoting related industries such as semiconductors and sensors. This reflects the reality of the domestic industry, which is strong in semiconductors and home appliances, and is based on the judgment that securing a preemptive position in the semiconductor component market within the IoT sector and the home IoT market will serve as a breakthrough in the saturated home appliance market.

Initially, the plan is to raise awareness of IoT appliances by providing relevant incentives to consumers, such as supporting the construction of new public housing equipped with IoT appliances, and to support the development of system semiconductors, sensors, and home appliances from an industrial perspective.

Development of system semiconductors and advanced sensors, investing approximately 500 billion won over the next five years

The government announced that approximately 500 billion won will be invested jointly by the public and private sectors over the next five years to develop promising system semiconductors and advanced sensors for the era of the Internet of Things (IoT). Support will be provided for the development of smartphone application processors (APs), ultra-lightweight ultra-low power system semiconductors (SoCs), and power semiconductors capable of achieving low power consumption, as well as advanced sensors for IoT in the home appliance and healthcare sectors, such as motion, location, and gas sensors. The Sensor Industry Advancement Development Project ('15–'20, total project cost of 150.8 billion won) has already been announced, and a total of 83.6 billion won will be invested in the Power Semiconductor Commercialization Project over the next seven years.

Efforts are also being focused on creating a business environment that links these semiconductors, components, and home appliances. A 'Convergence Alliance' has been established involving various organizations, including major home appliance manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, mobile carriers (network), the Electronics Technology Institute (platform), construction companies (demand), and the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (standards). The goal is for industries to come together to devise practical cooperation measures, such as mutual linkage between smart home products, the establishment of standards, institutional improvements, and the development of joint business models.

On the 22nd, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Joo Hyung-hwan, who attended a meeting on the IoT home appliance industry, stated, “I believe the key to new industries such as IoT home appliances is to actively open up the initial market.” "In that process, we must provide support through R&D, taxation, finance, and human resources, and create an ecosystem where collaboration and convergence among companies can take place," he said.

Samsung, LG Electronics, and others make a full appearance at CES to compete with IoT connectivity and intelligent home appliances.

Interest in IoT home appliances is expected to heat up even more at 'CES 2017', the world's largest consumer electronics show, held in Las Vegas, USA, at the beginning of the new year (January 5–8).

First, Samsung plans to unveil a premium kitchen appliance package consisting of a refrigerator, wall oven, combi oven, cooktop, hood, and dishwasher at CES 2017. These products provide a smart kitchen experience through enhanced cooking performance and IoT connectivity. All products in the North American-bound premium kitchen appliance package are equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities, allowing users to operate or check the status of each product via a smartphone.


▲ Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator.

At CES 2017, LG Electronics will also unveil deep learning-based smart home appliances, such as air conditioners and robot vacuums, that autonomously learn users' usage habits and surrounding environments to provide optimal functions. Air conditioners equipped with deep learning technology differentiate the areas where users primarily stay to provide concentrated cooling, while robot vacuums can distinguish between obstacles to avoid and those to overcome. Previously, if you tried to step over a person's foot, now wait in front of the foot for about 3 seconds, clean up if the foot is moved, and bypass the foot if it does not move.

In addition, the smart refrigerator analyzes the frequency and duration of door openings and automatically switches to energy-saving mode during sleeping hours when the user does not open the door. In the middle of summer, if the kitchen temperature and humidity are high, it sets the sterilization function to the highest level, 'Power Mode,' to prevent food from spoiling easily. Smart washing machines fill with more water and raise the temperature to ensure better rinsing in areas with high limescale.

Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Makes Full-Scale Entry into Smart Home Appliance Market with IoT Washing Machine
The AI-based home IoT service market is set to become fiercely competitive.

Dongbu Daewoo Electronics has also recently entered the smart home appliance market in earnest by launching its first new IoT product, a wall-mounted drum washing machine.

The company’s newly introduced wall-mounted drum washing machine, ‘Mini,’ has obtained SKT ‘Smart Home Appliance’ certification, allowing users to remotely control key product functions such as washing modes (6 types), adding rinse cycles, and locking control buttons from indoors or outdoors via a smartphone app through wireless internet, and to receive and check notifications via smartphone when washing starts, progress, and completion.

▲ Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Smart Home Appliance, 'Mini' Washing Machine

In addition, through the usage report function, information is provided that allows users to compare the average usage time of the product with that of users in similar environments based on the previous 24 hours, and in the event of a problem with the product, users can receive guidance by connecting to the Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Service Center website.

Baek Jun-bong, Senior Vice President of the KT Economic and Management Research Institute, cited Home IoT as one of the seven major trends in a recent announcement on the ICT outlook, stating, “Home IoT shifts from manual remote monitoring and control of existing WiFi-connected home devices and smartphones to AI-based auto"It will change to intelligent," he stated, adding, "In 2017, the AI-based home IoT service market, where devices learn on their own through previous data patterns, will become fiercely competitive."