Appliance consumption is rebounding thanks to the "top-efficiency appliance rebate program," which refunds 10% of the purchase price when consumers buy appliances rated No. 1 for energy consumption efficiency.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on the 16th that 35% of the allocated budget was used up just one month after the top-efficiency appliance rebate program began. As it drew up the second supplementary budget, the government allocated 267.1 billion won to the top-efficiency appliance rebate program. If consumers purchase top-tier energy efficiency products among 11 appliances closely tied to daily life, including TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines, they get back 10% of the product price (up to 300,000 won per person).
Starting from the 13th of last month, the program received 662,000 applications for a total of 88.2 billion won in rebates over one month. Given that the rebate equals 10% of the purchase price, total spending is estimated to reach 882 billion won.
Sales at appliance corporations also took off. At a corporate meeting on the "top-efficiency rebate program" held at Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in Jongno, Seoul, that day, one appliance corporation said sales rose 29% from a year earlier. For an air purifier partner company, sales jumped as much as 584%. As this program offers rebates for rental products for the first time, appliance rental companies also saw sales increase. A representative from a rental corporation who attended the meeting said, "Sales increased 92% year over year," adding, "In particular, dehumidifier sales jumped 16-fold."
Cho Ik-no, energy policy director at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Since the start of the program, the three-in-one effects we initially expected—reviving domestic demand, saving energy, and priming the pump for strengthening the competitiveness of the appliance industry—are becoming visible," adding, "Although sales in the appliance sector typically decline after summer, we will step up publicity so that appliance consumption can continue to expand by leveraging favorable factors such as the issuance of the second round of consumer coupons and the wedding season."