Interior Market Ignited by the COVID-19 Boom

A construction technician from an interior design company carrying out interior work.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] As the domestic interior market rapidly grows, major domestic interior companies are fiercely competing in the 'comprehensive home interior package' sector. This service involves remodeling the entire house tailored to the customer's preferences, including the kitchen, flooring, and bathroom.

According to the industry on the 7th, the domestic interior market is largely divided into new construction and maintenance sectors. New construction corresponds to the B2B market of 'interior architecture and architectural finishing work,' mainly participated in by large construction companies such as Hyundai Construction. Maintenance is a market centered on B2C and O2O (online-offline linkage), involving interior companies without construction licenses, building materials companies, and online platforms. Currently, there are no clear statistics on the domestic interior market. However, a report published by the Korea Construction Policy Research Institute in January estimated the new construction market at 35.5 trillion KRW and the maintenance sector at 24.5 trillion KRW as of 2019. The Korea Construction Industry Research Institute estimated the maintenance sector to be about 12.7 trillion KRW as of 2020.

Major domestic interior companies competing in the maintenance sector include Hanssem, Hyundai Livart, and LX Hausys. The industry expects the maintenance sector market to grow significantly this year due to the increase in 'homebodies' during the COVID-19 era. Doosung Kyu, a research fellow at the Korea Construction Industry Research Institute, said, "Since the reconstruction or full remodeling market is uncertain, the interior maintenance sector is gaining attention," adding, "With the first-generation new town apartments being over 30 years old and many aging houses, interest will continue for the time being."

Hyundai Livart launched the comprehensive interior brand 'Livart Jipterior' last month, reflecting high expectations for growth potential in the maintenance sector market. This is a package product service that allows customers to freely choose from materials to construction scope according to their preferences. Hyundai Livart has steadily introduced specialized interior brands by field, starting with 'Livart Kitchen' (kitchen furniture) in 2015, followed by 'Livart Bath' (bathroom) in 2020 and 'Livart Window' (windows) in 2021, to build a total interior business portfolio. A Hyundai Livart representative said, "Homes are evolving beyond simple residential spaces to include functions for work, exercise, and cooking leisure," adding, "We plan to continuously develop various package products that customers can choose according to design concepts."

LX Hausys is also expanding its total interior business by including kitchen and bathroom fields in its main product lineup last year, moving away from its previously B2B-focused building materials business such as windows, flooring, wallpaper, and artificial marble.

LX Hausys plans to focus on enhancing the competitiveness of kitchen and bathroom products this year. The 'LX Z:IN Kitchen & Bath' SELEXION series and the premium high-end Zenith9 series, introduced last year, are the main products. An LX Hausys representative said, "This year, we plan to launch a premium product lineup applying differentiated materials developed in-house," adding, "We will also increase the number of 'LX Z:IN Interior Z:IN Square' total interior showrooms."

Hanssem, which first introduced the comprehensive interior product 'Hanssem Rehouse' in 2016, has also become busy. Hanssem believes that future industry competition will be decided by construction technology and is focusing on organizational restructuring and capability enhancement.

Through Hanssem Academy, a training institution for construction cooperative technicians, Hanssem expanded its professional construction workforce from 4,500 in 2020 to about 7,500 by the end of last year. They have also established a systematic education system to ensure consistent quality across all sites. Construction training lasts from a minimum of 10 days to a maximum of 2 months, covering tool usage and product installation. Additionally, they plan to expand responsibility construction for all package processes from the current 70% level to 100% in the future. A Hanssem representative said, "Remodeling the entire house involves many processes and a long construction period, making it highly challenging with many variables," adding, "We will focus on strengthening construction competitiveness, which determines customer satisfaction with interior package products."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.