SEOUL, KOREA – Korean home appliances chain stores (e.g. Hi-MART, Samsung Digital Plaza and LG Hi-Plaza), which have thus far mainly dealt in TVs, washing machines and refrigerators, are aggressively expanding their mobile segments. They aim to jack up sales of mobile devices by offering more customers an opportunity to have hands-on experiences with the latest smartphones and tablet PCs.
On Sunday, a high-ranking official from the distribution industry said, “While the domestic market for TVs and other white goods has been stagnant, the mobile market is growing rapidly. Home appliance stores’ such move is not an option but a necessity.”
Hi-Mart (a Korean chain of electronics stores) has been expanding its experience-oriented mobile device sections (named Mobile Hi-Mart) in a "shop-in-shop" manner. Hi-Mart plans to raise the number of Mobile Hi-Mart shops, which currently stand at 80, to 200 within this year.
Samsung Digital Plaza is also ramping up its responses to the growing mobile market and puts up more Samsung Mobile stores separately from Samsung Digital Plaza stores. As of now, about 80 Samsung Mobile stores are operating, and Samsung Living Plaza is poised to open more Samsung Mobile stores.
Sean Chung (hbpark@etnews.com)
**Article provided by etnews [Korea IT News]
[Reference] : http://english.etnews.com/electronics/2715655_1303.html
