South Korea’s water and air purifier manufacturer Chungho Nais Co. will venture into Malaysia and take on two Korean rivals already active in the Southeast Asian country’s water purifier rental market.
The company hopes to sell 5,000 units of water purifiers per month in the market, it said on Thursday. Chungho Nais announced it has set up a local entity in Malaysia to market its products including water purifiers, air purifiers and bidets. The company has already hired 900 local staff members for sales and customer service operations.
The Malaysian office aims to start selling core products later this month or early next month, and customers can make a purchase or lease on a monthly instalment plan, according to Chungho Nais.
The company set a goal to sell more than 5,000 units of water purifiers per month in Malaysia. Its archrival Coway, a leading Korean water and air purifier maker and another mid-sized Korean home appliance maker Cuckoo Electronics have already entered the Southeast Asian country’s water purifier rental market.
Malaysia is not the first overseas market for Chungho Nais. It made a foray into the Vietnamese market last year after establishing a local entity. Its joint venture with Chinese electronics maker Midea founded in 2006 earned 130 billion won ($120.3 million) in sales last year, up 20 billion won from a year ago.
Chungho Nais expects it would rake in 8.0 billion won in exports after it earned 6.0 billion won in 2016 and 6.5 billion won in 2017, according to an official at Chungho Nais. The unlisted Chungho Nais has seen steady growth in sales since its sales first topped 300 billion won in 2013. It reported an operating profit of 19.4 billion won on sales of 384.5 billion won last year.
Here is the air purifier line up for Malaysian market : Air Care