Samsung, as a global IT leader, have been developing quality products and services to help our customers enjoy more convenient and smarter lifestyles while providing them with home appliances as well as mobile and AV devices. However, our washing machine was ranked third on the European market in terms of market share as of 2013. To strengthen our brand image and increase our market share in those regions, we need to introduce our innovative and competitive products to the premium market.

The European super premium market for front load washing machines only accounts for two percent of the total market volume. However the market sector continues to grow and we do not yet have a washing machine model for that sector. There has been a dominant brand in the market for a long time. Therefore, we need a competitive and attractive product which can even appeal to the loyal customers of the brand. For this reason, we started to develop a completely new platform and then decided to design a product that enables users to accept “technologies” as meaningful “values.”

A team consisting of designers, engineers and researchers from all around the world started a project with the fundamental question of what the essential values of a washing machine are. In addition, we verified related ideas based on our marketing analysis on the market environment and the target sector. Over the two-year-long development period, we fully changed the structures and forms of a washing machine more than ten times before completing a prototype. The prototype went through improvement processes based on the users’ verification of functions, forms and user experiences.

For the WW9000HE, we eliminated the cold and mechanical image of existing washing machines and imbued a new element of elegance. We elevated the position of its drum 30 mm higher than existing washing machines and made its porthole wider in order to prevent users from bending their back or kneeling when they put or pull out the laundry. Importantly, we offered a full touch screen to provide users with an intuitive interface while not limiting their choices. In short, we designed the machine to have users consider laundering “a fun experience,” not “a household chore”.

We intended to secure unique product competitiveness compared to existing competitors by finding features which could appeal to the European users and by applying them to our product. Importantly, there were a lot of technical challenges to figuring out noise and vibration issues as the drum was positioned higher than others. We developed innovative technologies, including the laundry status automatic sensing and the detergent injection. In addition, the product was designed to follow the principle of “No Spray, No Coating” in its manufacturing process. In particular, the door’s material was chosen to make it beautiful but not cause environmental problems.