As the global financial crisis and the U.S. credit rating downgrade have increased the uncertainty in the global market, the domestic construction market is not so clear this year. With the business environment unstable last year, competition for products and services is expected to intensify as construction companies compete to secure profits.

The domestic elevator market is expected to face a more difficult business environment as the demand for apartments is expected to decline further due to expanding business risks in the construction industry, declining housing asset values, and delayed recovery in public housing construction. However, in the midst of bold issues such as the upcoming general elections and presidential elections, the increase in demand for small offices due to the stimulus package and the delayed start of the local government building planned last year are expected to expand this year. In addition, LH Corporation, which has experienced financial difficulties, is expected to recover quickly and revive the construction industry.

In response, the four major companies with a high share of the domestic elevator market are also seeking ways to expand the maintenance market through guaranteed technology and reliable after-sales management while increasing the share of their products.

Otis Elevator, whose export volume accounts for more than 30% of its total sales, is already actively exporting to China, Central Asia, and the Middle East for high-rise complex towers, residential complexes, and large business complexes, and will continue to develop new markets for continuous growth this year based on its technology and brand power.

Mitsubishi Elevator Korea is committed to adhering to its quality-first policy and expanding its domestic production system by increasing R&D investment to localize products and develop new models. Hyundai Elevator has also set a sales target of KRW 1 trillion this year and plans to focus all its efforts to achieve a new leap forward by actively implementing the 'Three Management Goals' of securing the foundation for future growth, sustaining growth, and advancing corporate culture. The strategy is to lead the market through continuous innovation of products and services, strengthen internal management and actively discover new growth engines for the future of the company, and become a 'Korean indigenous elevator company' recognized not only in Korea but also in the global market.

ThyssenKrupp Elevator Korea said it will strive to develop eco-friendly technologies and improve energy efficiency based on the group's sustainable efficiency policy. It will seek to increase exports through diversification of business lines and continue to enhance installation efficiency and safety education.

Elevators are vertical transportation devices that are powered by more than 30,000 parts and software, and the safety of users is a top priority. However, due to the lowest bid practices in the construction industry, even large elevator companies have difficulty securing profits even if they win orders. As price competition intensifies due to the deterioration of the elevator business environment, product design is approached only from the perspective of cost reduction, and the introduction of cheap Chinese parts and products is increasing, the durability and reliability of the product is a concern. Even in the maintenance market, low-cost orders are dominating, making it difficult for companies to recover even basic maintenance costs.

"The current law requires public bidding for elevator maintenance contracts for public housing over a certain size, and most of them are awarded to the lowest bidder," said an official from a major company. "There are even maintenance contracts with a monthly fee of 8,000 won, which increases the burden on residents from another perspective, such as unnecessary repair work." Therefore, it is expected that the selection of elevator maintenance companies should reflect factors such as technology, parts supply, and emergency response capabilities in addition to price.

In response to this reality, the four major companies said with one voice that there is an urgent need for policy measures to compensate for the side effects of the lowest bidder system in the maintenance market, confusion of market order, and shortage of installation manpower. They also added that the government needs to consider policy considerations to foster and develop the domestic elevator industry and develop the domestic high-speed elevator market.

"In particular, the construction of elevators in domestic high-rise buildings is a new growth engine that can develop the domestic elevator industry to the world's top level, and it will play a big role in improving national competitiveness and inspiring national pride," said a representative from a large company. "We should make the most of domestic elevator technology by strategically utilizing it in the high-rise building project, which will serve as a pillar of the domestic economy, and use it as an opportunity for domestic companies to expand into the global market."

The following is a look at the flagship products of four major companies - Otis Elevator, ThyssenKrupp Elevator Korea, Mitsubishi Elevator Korea, and Hyundai Elevator - and their domestic and international plans for this year (in alphabetical order).

Recently, Otis Elevator's headquarters reorganized to capture growth opportunities in Asia, Europe, and the Gulf region. The company expects to increase synergies in Eastern and Central Europe and strengthen its capabilities in China. In order to maintain its global leadership, Otis Elevator is further strengthening its innovation and efficiency, and plans to introduce a new energy-saving product line in the near future, as well as enhancing the cutting-edge technology and price competitiveness of existing products.

Otis Elevator (Otis) will continue to develop its business and enhance customer satisfaction with its differentiated safety system, transparent management based on business ethics, and hotel-level customer service. In particular, as the principle of providing safe products with the world's best quality and prompt service has remained unchanged for 160 years since its founding, Otis will continue to provide differentiated value to customers through its energy-saving eco-friendly elevators, Gen2 and Regen models, and its state-of-the-art remote control service, Elite Service.

In particular, Otis won the Lotte World Tower, which will be the first 100-story building and the tallest building in Korea, last year, proving its superior technology for ultra-high-speed elevators.

An Otis representative said, "We have already maintained the No. 1 market share in both domestic and overseas markets with our superior technology for high-speed models, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of installations." "Although fierce competition is expected in the planning of many high-rise buildings in the future, as Otis global high-speed products are scheduled to arrive in the domestic market in the first half of this year, we will strengthen our lead in the high-speed market with our competitiveness in high-rise project construction, installation, product competitiveness, and after-sales service."

In the maintenance market, we will continue to pursue our goal to become a recognized leader in providing the best services. In particular, Otis will continue to expand its differentiated services such as Elite Service, a state-of-the-art remote control maintenance system, and e-Service to enhance the value of its maintenance services. "By 2015, we will focus not only on acquiring new customers, including increasing revenue through increased maintenance volumes, but also on enhancing services to existing customers to reduce downtime," said Otis.

A prominent part of this year's plan is Otis' sustainability strategy. Since last year, the company has launched a global eco-campaign, "The way to Green," to apply global standards for environmental sustainability throughout the elevator product lifecycle, from the design and manufacturing of elevators to the recycling of products at the end. The campaign, which was jointly launched globally by Otis, demonstrates the world's largest elevator leader's commitment to being a green partner to its employees, customers and users.

"The campaign includes product and service improvements that reduce energy consumption and deliver optimal performance, as well as energy-saving production processes that help reduce our carbon footprint," said Otis. "We are investing heavily in green initiatives, from eco-friendly elevators to Elite Service, our state-of-the-art, eco-friendly remote control service."

ThyssenKrupp Elevator Korea (hereinafter referred to as Thyssen) plans to focus on the high-rise market after winning an order for the new KFA building last year. It is currently pursuing orders for Busan IFC (67 floors, 540 meters per minute), Yongsan Landmark Building (154 floors), and Global Business Center (111 floors), and plans to preempt the high-rise market with its unique technologies such as twin elevators and destination floor selection control system (DSC) that will increase the efficiency of high-rise buildings.

In addition, we will seek to expand exports by targeting overseas markets and strengthen customer management in the growing maintenance and replacement market. The company will also diversify its overseas trading lines to export GL1, a low- and medium-speed gearless elevator, and Evolution, a machine room-less elevator, which were launched last year and have been successfully established in the domestic market.

Thyssen is strongly promoting its Sustainable Efficiency (SE) policy at the group level, with all affiliates around the world participating. In particular, the Cheonan plant has been designated as a sustainable efficiency pilot plant and is conducting related activities, and as part of its efforts to improve the energy efficiency of its products, the company obtained energy efficiency certification (VDI 4707) grade A from TUV SUD in July last year for its flagship models GL1, Evolution1, and Elejet, demonstrating an energy efficiency improvement of up to 50-60%, with both standby and running power usage below the standard.

In addition, the development of the CPIK-R inverter, a power recovery type inverter based on advanced German technology, has proven its eco-friendliness, and the elevator installed at NHN Green Factory, a 2011 Good Design (GD) winner, was also highly recognized for its operating efficiency by being equipped with a power recovery type inverter and a highly efficient DSC system. In December 2011, we were designated as the first green company in the elevator industry in Korea by the Ministry of Environment in accordance with our sustainable management goals.

Thyssen is engaged in various social contribution activities, including a campaign to donate less than KRW 10,000 to the Korean Red Cross every month from its salary, support for scholarships at Kyung Hee University in 2010, and annual river cleanup activities near the Cheonan plant.

Mitsubishi Elevator Korea (hereinafter referred to as Mitsubishi) plans to focus its management resources on balanced growth in the three major businesses of new construction, renovation, and replacement, while strengthening domestic product development capabilities in cooperation with its headquarters in Japan to fulfill its role as a global production center for Mitsubishi elevators.

Currently, Mitsubishi exports more than 300 mid- and high-speed models (over 240 meters per minute) annually to markets in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and South America, and exports are expected to grow further by focusing on winning ultra-high-speed projects through a high-quality product strategy. "Among Mitsubishi Electric's 12 elevator production centers worldwide, only the Inazawa plant in Japan and the Incheon plant in South Korea produce high-speed models with speeds of 240 meters per minute or more," said a Mitsubishi representative, "and we are confident that the technology of the Incheon plant is comparable to the global market."

Mitsubishi plans to actively pursue orders from skyscrapers, especially in the high-rise elevator market, given its strengths in technology and quality. Last year, Mitsubishi signed a contract to supply elevators for the Lotte World Tower hotel, offices, office buildings, and other premium buildings, and will apply double-decker elevator technology, which is new to Korea.

"Double-deck elevators are expected to improve transportation efficiency in response to the trend of high-rise buildings," said a Mitsubishi representative. "In the past three years, China and Asia have accounted for more than 50% of the demand for double-deck elevators, and last year, we signed a contract to supply a 600-meter double-deck elevator with the world's fastest speed, along with a 1,080-meter single deck, to Shanghai Tower in China."

In addition, based on Mitsubishi's core technology that has been accumulated over the years, the company plans to further strengthen its product competitiveness by continuing to develop a series of low- and medium-speed gearless elevators (model: NexPia). In the replacement segment, Mitsubishi Electric will continue to focus on high-rise and luxury buildings as it did last year.

Under the "Eco Changes" environmental slogan, the Mitsubishi Electric Group continues to develop and introduce advanced technologies to minimize the burden on the environment. In addition to providing compact, lightweight, highly efficient and resource-saving products and services, the Group conducts the "Earth Love and Environment Campaign" twice a year to raise environmental awareness among all employees, including trash pickup and briquette delivery. In addition, we are actively engaged in social contribution activities such as painting and delivering briquettes to improve the living environment of the elderly living alone and supporting disadvantaged children, and recently supported a school foundation to foster core human resources for the domestic industry.

Hyundai Elevator (hereinafter referred to as Hyundai) plans to focus on leading the market by realizing customer satisfaction through the provision of differentiated value. As it has its own domestic production plant, Hyundai plans to focus more on elevator maintenance services based on fast parts procurement, safe products, and differentiated services.

This year, Hyundai's flagship products include LUXEN, a digital gearless elevator, YZER, a machine room-less elevator, and Helias, a reservation system for the next floor. "The LUXEN model boasts a 77.5% improvement in energy efficiency by applying the power-recovery inverter LOWATT, while the YZER model, a machine room-less elevator with an ultra-compact and ultra-thin winding machine and control panel, is in constant demand from customers due to its space efficiency and reduced construction costs," said a Hyundai representative.

Hyundai will focus on the high-rise market this year. In particular, Hyundai is paying attention to the Asian region, where plans to build high-rise buildings are being announced one after another, and to strengthen the South American market, especially Brazil, where demand is expected to increase due to the World Cup and the Olympics, by deploying experts in the region, and will preempt the market through localization strategies, especially in emerging markets such as the CIS, where demand is expected to continue.

In this regard, Hyundai will focus on its ultra-high speed elevator THE EL (1,080m/min) and double-deck elevator THE EL 600D (600m/min) models, which were developed in 2009, to win orders for future skyscrapers. Hyundai has already won a number of domestic and international orders, including the Government Complex in Venezuela, Meridian Hotel in Turkey, Hilton Panama, Songdo Eye Tower in Incheon, and Park Hyatt Hotel in Busan.

"Both the DL and DL 600D provide a comfortable ride with lateral vibration and air pressure control technology that is generated when driving at high speeds, and the nine-phase motor control system enables normal operation even if a part of the motor fails, so they have excellent safety," said a Hyundai representative. "We expect to receive orders in the future in line with plans to build skyscrapers at home and abroad."

Hyundai established the Ethics Management Department in 2007 to strengthen its ethical management, and regularly conducts special lectures and cyber training for new hires and employees every year, and operates a cyber newspaper to listen to the grievances of its suppliers. In addition, since 1997, Hyundai has been utilizing the 'End-of-Salary Deduction Fund' and the 'Matching Grant Fund,' where the company donates the entire amount of employees' salaries, as a scholarship fund for the needy, and various social contribution activities such as volunteer and donation activities and elevator-related campaigns.