In South Korea, Rivals Samsung and LG Fight Dirty Over Washing Machines | Hacker News Reader

In South Korea, Rivals Samsung and LG Fight Dirty Over Washing Machines

wsj.com

26 pointsdmmalam18 comments

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Those washing machines look beastly.

Can't wait for one that moves the clothes from the washer to the dryer for you.

They already have ones which combine wash and dry in one.

Automatic machines which do both in one place have been around for decades atleast.

Or were you being sarcastic? I can't tell

Indeed true.

Traditionally they've always been unreasonably expensive (relative to individual units) but in the last few years they have come down a lot and now they're only mildly more expensive than individual units.

I suspect once two units or a unified unit hit the same dollar price you'll see a lot of people switch over the unified systems just so laundry is more "set and forget." Plus some of them have smartphone notifications now when the laundry is done (so no listening for the alarm, etc).

They wash OK but the drying in washer/dryers sucks.

This is because they condense the water out of the basin, whereas a traditional dryer is generating hot air from electricity or natural gas, which I don't believe can be done in a combined unit.

Innovation remains to be seen!

Better Samsung models have a built in condensing dryer - the drying time is just included in the wash time.

They hired Chris Bangle[1] to design washing machines?! They should get him to do mobile phones - he sure won't do another iPhone-like copycat.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Bangle

He's a car designer, I'm not sure that would translate very well to small electronics that should be closely integrated with software. For example, this is a Porsche Blackberry: http://i.imgur.com/JdCKdMi.jpg and they have actually had more experience with consumer electronics. It looks nice, better than a standard Blackberry, but it seems that it would be actually worse for real world usage.

There's really very little to be taken away from or be added to the black rectangle of the modern day phone. If you add something, it's just as likely to get in the way of using the phone, or being a superfluous gimmick.

It would surely be original but Bangle's idea of "original" is pretty unique: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CA/2011041...

BMW had to put him on a leash after the "cat-eye" 5 Series. Sales fell 2% year over year while Audi A6 and Mercedes E-Class were rocketing upwards.

$2,700 for a washing machine? Are they insane?

The article doesn't say what the tax is on the machines.

Domestic machines tend to be cheaper than commercial machines. It's pretty easy to find commercial machines i. That price range.

I think the Crystal Blue is a domestic machine. Don't forget that household appliances are a bit of a fetish item for new homeowners, along with granite countertops, recessed lighting, hardwood floors.

A large part of the Crystal Blue's USP is on looks. It is functionally very high end but they're putting a lot of emphasis on how it will look in your home.

So maybe they're targeting a specific demographic who have a lot of money and want something which will look very attractive for whatever reason.

Plus the MRP is nonsense anyway. It will likely sell just over the 2K price point before too long, washer/dryers are on continuous "sales."

You also have to consider that companies produce products to showcase rather than to actually sell. This may be one of those. Looks great at CES but won't actually ship in very high volume.

Those two have been fighting forever. It's one way to keep them motivated, however their inherent structure keeps them from innovating further, hence will never be able to amount to the levels of Apple or Google, and they'll soon be surpassed by Chinese companies and will walk the ways of Sony, although they were never as good as Sony was.

> they'll soon be surpassed by Chinese companies

So you are saying that Chinese companies are more innovative than the South Korean conglomerates?

The way I look at Chinese companies are like... Turbo-charged what Korean companies once were. The way Korean education kills creativity in students will hinder Korean companies to innovate as much as they would need to in order to get up to the level of the highest grade companies. I think Chinese companies are easily able to achieve what Korean companies are doing, probably better as time passes. Korean conglomerate are spread out too much horizontally to excel in one specific part anyway. I think it's only a matter of time until Chinese companies take over the role of current Korean companies. It's already showing in mobile phone markets as companies like Xiaomi is taking a huge chuck off of Samsung's. On innovation though, I don't necessarily think Chinese companies are more innovative. But it's not like Korean companies are innovative in any way.

If they aren't now, they will be soon.

Look at where LG, Hyundai, and Kia were just 15 years ago. LG had to change names from GoldStar to shed the perception of the brand as the king of cheap Sony knock-offs. Hyundai and Kia were releasing unbelievably generic cars with their attempts at "styling" ending up like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Opirus#mediaviewer/File:Kia...

Samsung wasn't much better, they had little presence in the consumer market and weren't regarded any higher than Foxconn is today in terms of electronics/engineering prowess.

I don't see the best Chinese companies being that far off from the best Korea had to offer back then. Look how quickly the Korean companies caught up and then remember how fast everything moves in China.

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