Japan’s largest retail chain to carry Dongbu products

Dongbu Daewoo Electronics will place its products in Yamada Denki, Japan’s biggest retail chain for home electronics. This is the first time a Korean company has signed a deal with the store, which controls 90 percent of Japan’s electronics retail market in sales.

The local electronics company will sell all Dongbu home appliances including refrigerators, washing machines and microwaves.

In 2013, Dongbu signed a deal with Biccamera, Japan’s No. 2 electronics retailer, and later sold 150,000 washing machines, along with 30,000 small refrigerators through Biccamera’s distribution channel in Japan. Japan has a strong base in electronics with globally renowned local brands such as Panasonic, Sharp and Sanyo. The Japanese yen has continued to weaken against the Korean won, which made it even harder for Korean companies to succeed in the Japanese market.

Dongbu’s sales strategy focused on promoting products that come in sizes familiar to Japanese customers, such as one of its popular washing machines, said Kang Jae-hoon, head of Dongu Daewoo Electronics’ unit in Japan.