Samsung sees pandemic-driven boom in sales of appliances

Lee Jae-seung, president of the South Korean company's digital appliances business, told Reuters in an interview that he had originally expected the boom to subside after the first quarter of this year.

But extended travel restrictions despite vaccine rollouts and consumers being flush with cash due to economic stimulus measures of governments plus limited spending avenues for them had stretched the boom, Lee said.

A buoyant demand outlook from one of the prominent global home appliances makers brings supply-chain issues to the fore, specifically a shortage of semiconductors that has hurt many industries, particularly the automobile sector.

Lee acknowledged that the global chip shortage is weighing on Samsung too, but said the appliance business has "secured enough to respond".

It has done this by swapping chips to 12-inch wafer ones from 8-inch ones, undertaking software workarounds, and diversifying chip sourcing firms to two or more per chip from countries such as Japan, Taiwan, and China, he said.

"When all market players are buoyed by rising demand, supply competitiveness is crucial in occupying the market early," Lee said

Samsung saw first-quarter home appliance sales increase in all markets, including a 144% hike in vacuum cleaner sales in North America, a 79 percent increase in dishwashers in Europe and a 12-fold jump in robot vacuum sales in Brazil.