Coway's ice water purifier. Coway said the product won an award at the 29th Energy Winner Awards ceremony on July 21. [Coway]
Coway's ice water purifier. Coway said the product won an award at the 29th Energy Winner Awards ceremony on July 21. [Coway]

Coway ice water purifier rentals up 35% in June

Shinil Electronics fan, circulator sales rise 18%

Simmons, AceBed cooling products gain as tropical nights persist

Demand for ice water purifiers, fans and cooling bedding is climbing as a heat wave intense enough to trigger Seoul's first-ever "extreme heat major alert" on two consecutive days grips the country. Sales of summer products, once concentrated in the monsoon season, are now stretching longer on the back of an early onset of heat and persistent tropical nights.

Coway's new ice water purifier rental sales in June rose 35 percent from the same month last year, according to industry sources Tuesday. As more customers opt for ice water purifiers over standard models, Coway has expanded its lineup to five products so customers can choose based on ice output and installation space.

Ice water purifiers carry a higher monthly rental fee than regular models. A standard hot-and-cold purifier rents for around 20,000 to 30,000 won ($21) a month, while ice water purifiers are priced in the 40,000 to 50,000 won range. As more rental agreements are signed, per-account sales grow accordingly. Demand used to be heavily seasonal, but industry officials say the pattern has softened somewhat in recent years as households consume more ice year-round.

Rivals are seeing similar trends. Chungho Nais posted a 40 percent year-on-year increase in ice water purifier rentals in June, while SK Magic recorded a gain of more than 50 percent over the same period. Ice water purifiers now account for about 40 percent of SK Magic's total water purifier sales. "Rentals of hot-and-cold purifiers are the norm year-round, but ice water purifier rentals clearly spike sharply between June and July when the heat sets in," an industry official said.

Competition among manufacturers has shifted to ice-making capacity and product size. Alongside existing large-capacity models, a wave of compact units — roughly 20 centimeters wide — has come to market to fit smaller kitchens. The ability to select ice size and produce large quantities quickly has also become a key competitive differentiator.

Sales of fans and circulators, traditional summer appliances, have also picked up. Shinil Electronics' combined fan and circulator sales from April through June rose 18 percent from the same period a year earlier, driven by an earlier-than-usual start to the heat and a growing number of households running both an air conditioner and a circulator simultaneously.

Circulators distribute cool air from an air conditioner throughout a room without requiring the unit to be set to an excessively low temperature, and that appeal has driven sales. Shinil Electronics' cumulative circulator shipments have reached 4.3 million units since the product launched in 2015. Fans accounted for 49.7 percent of Shinil Electronics' sales in 2025. Sales of other summer appliances — including dehumidifiers and portable air conditioners — rose 13 percent last year to 12.9 billion won.

More households are also buying multiple fans for different purposes: a circulator paired with an air conditioner in the living room, a low-noise fan in the bedroom, and a compact cordless model in the kitchen or outdoors.

Simmons, a sleep-focused brand, launched its "Cool Summer" promotion ahead of the peak summer season. [Simmons]
Simmons, a sleep-focused brand, launched its "Cool Summer" promotion ahead of the peak summer season. [Simmons]

Tropical nights are also boosting sales of cooling products at bedding companies. Sales of Simmons' "All Season Cooling Set" jumped 175 percent in the third week of May compared with the previous week. Earlier, in the second week of April, sales of its "Mattress Cooling Pad" and "All Season Cooling Set" doubled and quintupled week on week, respectively. AceBed's cooling product sales surged 161.1 percent in a single week in mid-May from the week before. Sales of its "Microcare Cooling Body Pillow" from January through April rose 71.7 percent year on year.

The cooling product buying season is also starting earlier. Orders used to concentrate from June onward, when the monsoon and tropical nights typically begin in earnest, but this year sales began moving in April. Bedding companies have responded by moving up the launch and promotional timing for cooling pads, blankets and pillows. A key selling point of cooling bedding is that it requires no electricity — consumers reluctant to run air conditioners all night are seeking out materials that quickly dissipate body heat on contact.

The industry expects summer product sales to remain on an upward trajectory for now if the heat wave continues past mid-August. "With record-breaking daytime temperatures exceeding 42 degrees Celsius, strong sales are expected to continue for the time being," an industry official said.


hong@heraldcorp.com