Korea Herald correspondent
“Southeast Asia is a crucial and expanding market for us,” said Kim Jong-woo, chief operating officer of LS Electric, during a media briefing at the company’s exhibition booth on Wednesday.
“We’ve increased manufacturing capacity at our Vietnam facility, which we expanded three years ago. Our strategy in Southeast Asia is to secure more local projects by enhancing our production capabilities, mirroring our success in Vietnam.”
Kim highlighted “K-electricity” as the latest trend following “K-food” and “K-culture,” adding that LS Electric aims to bolster its production, engineering, and service maintenance capabilities. This approach is designed to drive both organic and inorganic growth in the ASEAN market, which also serves as a strategic export hub for North America and the Middle East.
LS Electric pioneered the entry of Korean heavy electrical equipment manufacturers into Vietnam in the 1990s. Since then, the company has maintained its dominance in the local low-voltage power equipment market, commanding a 45 percent market share as of last year.
Tran Viet Cuong, deputy director of power distribution panel manufacturer Consrich Vietnam, cited strong brand recognition as the primary reason for his company’s two-decade-long business relationship with LS Electric.
“While we’ve also used products from LS Electric’s Korean competitor, HD Hyundai Electric, which offers more competitive pricing, LS still maintains a stronger presence in Vietnam,” Cuong noted.
“LS Electric also excels in delivery speed. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Japan’s Mitsubishi faced production delays, LS maintained efficient operations through its local distribution network.”
Leveraging the trust of its client companies, LS Electric is spearheading the next-generation electric solutions market in Vietnam. This sector aligns with the Vietnamese government’s commitment to expanding power infrastructure as a key driver of economic growth.
The power equipment supplier is particularly focused on energy storage systems (ESS), a critical component for stabilizing the increasing power demand. ESS primarily consists of batteries and power conversion systems.
LS Electric is also targeting the smart factory solutions market for Vietnamese manufacturing companies, including real estate developers. The company has already integrated these solutions in its Cheongju plant in South Korea. Last year, LS Electric signed an agreement to build a smart factory for Becamex’s industrial complex in Binh Duong.
“We’re already targeting smart factory markets in Europe, particularly Germany,” another LS Electric official stated.
“Our solutions enable full automation of equipment, with facility data uploaded via the Internet of Things for monitoring within a digital twin. This setup allows for remote quality inspections and operations, improving equipment efficiency through data accumulation and analysis.”
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