Daewoo Electronics, now known as Winia Electronics, is a leading South Korean consumer electronics company. Since its founding in 1971, the company has expanded into a global enterprise with more than 64 manufacturing facilities, R&D centres, and sales offices across more than 40 nations.
About The Company
The UK arm of the company, known as Daewoo Electronics Sales UK, was founded in 1993. It is now the third biggest electronics company in South Korea. The UK operation manufactures a variety of consumer home appliances like freezers, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, ovens, etc. The company also acts as an OEM(original equipment manufacturer) to former Daewoo Motors subsidiaries like GM Korea and Tata Daewoo by supplying them with various automotive accessories and equipment. The company also ventured into the computer space by manufacturing Daewoo CPC-300, which was based on the MSX standard. The CPC-300 and CPC-300E are the two different models of this computer.
History
Daewoo Electronics was part of the Daewoo Group founded by Kim Woo Choong. The parent company was declared bankrupt in 1999 because of the Asian financial crisis. Before this economic crisis, the Daewoo Group had a considerable presence in South Korea, where it was the second-biggest conglomerate after Hyundai Group. After the bankruptcy, the company was owned by a group of creditors.
Acquisition
In 2010 Entekhab Industrial Group of Iran offered the creditors to buy Daewoo Electronics for $529 million. The Iranian company had to compete with a Sweden company named Electrolux for this acquisition. The creditors accepted Entekhab’s offer and signed a deal. Entekhab made a security deposit worth 49$ million to the creditors. However, in June 2011, Daewoo’s creditors, led by the government-run Korea Asset Management Corp (KAMCO), terminated the agreement and kept the deposit after Entekhab missed a payment deadline and requested a discount. The creditors and KAMCO also began talks with Electrolux to sell the company. Entekhab stated that they believed the termination of the agreement to be unlawful and threatened to take legal steps to prevent the company’s sale to Electrolux. Later, Entekhab requested the deposit’s recovery, but the creditors rejected it, blaming Entekhab for the cancellation. The matter eventually went to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which ruled in favor of the Iranian company and ordered 62.9$ million in compensation to them.
In 2013 Daewoo Electronics was bought by the Dongbu Group( DB Group) in a deal worth 270$ million. In 2018, Daewoo Electronics was sold by the DB Group to Winia Group.
Jinkyun Choi – CEO
In 2014, Choi Jin-Kyun took over as the CEO and vice-chairman of Daewoo Electronics replacing Lee Jae-Hyung. Lee, who had served the company as CEO for 15 months, had to resign from his position owing to his health concerns. Choi spent three years as the vice president of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics division before joining Daewoo Electronics. At Samsung, Mr. Choi created high-end consumer electronics. He took part in aggressive marketing campaigns, turning around the Samsung consumer electronics business’s position that had been losing money for a while. He helped Samsung Electronics reach a 10 percent or more significant global market share for home appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners.
High-quality products that consumers can trust have helped Daewoo Electronics establish itself as a trusted household name. The company focuses on its customer support services while emphasizing quality, creativity, and performance. Through this use of cutting-edge technology and a dedication to creativity, durability, value, and perfection in design, Daewoo Electronics still maintains a good position in the consumer electronics market.
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