LG, SM collaborate to go after Apple, Peloton in home fitness market

Fitness Candy, a joint venture launched recently by LG Electronics and SM Entertainment, expressed confidence that it can defeat Apple and Peloton in the at-home workout market, with plans to release its home fitness service overseas in the near future.

“We will be able to beat them with the integration of LG’s devices and SM’s content,” Fitness Candy CEO Shim Woo-taek said Thursday, during a press conference held to celebrate the joint venture’s establishment and introduce its service. “Apple Fitness+ is targeting more exercise-oriented users, but ours is differentiated in terms of entertainment value and content.”

Senior Executive Vice President Kim Bee-oh, who was a professional triathlete, said that the insufficient localization of Apple Fitness+ has made it difficult for the U.S. firm’s service to expand more globally.

Shim noted that the global popularity of Korean culture and LG’s international networks will help Fitness Candy’s service attract users in other countries.

According to the executives, Fitness Candy plans to release its app here in September.

The company seeks to have a monthly subscription fee for its service at around 20,000 won ($15) to 30,000 won, higher than the $9.99 for Apple Fitness+.

“We will provide subscribers with smart bands for free,” Shim said. “In the future, we will diversify our service’s classes and their respective prices.”

Kim disclosed the company’s plan to attract 1 million users and generate 500 billion won in revenue by 2025.

“By next year, we aim to attract 50,000 users and generate 10 billion won in revenue,” the senior executive vice president said.

LG Electronics, which holds a 51 percent stake in the joint venture, will manufacture various devices for the service, including a smart band and an artificial intelligence-based camera. The tech firm will also support the fitness app’s operations by building cloud servers.

SM Entertainment, which owns the remaining 49 percent stake in the venture, will produce content for the fitness service with K-pop stars and athletes.

“In collaboration with companies having expertise in different fields, we have tried to overcome our weakness,” LG Electronics CEO Cho Joo-wan said. “Fitness Candy will provide an unprecedented home fitness service.”

SM Entertainment Co-CEO Lee Sung-su said that his company hopes the at-home workout trend becomes a “lifestyle movement” for the new era, enabling people to rediscover methods for training themselves.