ITOCHU Announces Household Appliance and Digital Device Warranty Business Deployment

July 22, 2025

ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that ITOCHU has begun to deploy the household appliance and digital device warranty business in Japan in collaboration with Asurion Japan K.K. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Takashi Maeda, Representative Director and President; hereinafter “Asurion”), a Japanese subsidiary of U.S.-based Asurion Group, a globally leading provider of household appliance and digital device warranties.

The shift towards a circular economy has recently accelerated. This is requiring that society be built on the premise that products should not be used and thrown away but rather used for prolonged periods of time and then reused. Both businesses and consumers are becoming more inclined to select sustainability-focused options. The global market size of extended warranties for digital devices and the like had reached approximately 133.6 billion dollars by 2023. It is expected to be around 258.6 billion dollars in 2030, continuing to grow at the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8%*.

Asurion Group provides approximately 300 million consumers in 18 countries with warranty services for household appliances including smartphones and IoT devices. They have earned a high degree of trust as their services have been widely introduced to customers including large-scale communications carriers and online businesses, thanks to their integrated after-sales service system which is compatible with a wide variety of digital devices. After Asurion Japan K.K. was established as their first Japanese subsidiary in 2004, ITOCHU acquired an equity stake. Asurion and ITOCHU have jointly moved forward with planning and operation businesses, including a mobile phone terminal damage compensation service in Japan. Two companies have recently started to offer a service warrantying most household appliances and digital devices of each household collectively under a single agreement (hereinafter “the Service”).

The Service aims to ensure fast, consistent customer service by integrating contacts using dedicated operators, even if manufacturers and sales channels vary by product. The Service covers two smartphones and eight categories of digital devices (an unlimited number of units) under warranty, including products purchased within five years before the date of enrollment in the Service. It is a reassuring and economical warranty service covering the entire home digital environment, including future purchases as well as devices currently being used.
Having participated in the planning phase of the Service along with Asurion, ITOCHU is enhancing the experience value from the users' perspectives by fusing the knowledge of customer experience (CX) it has cultivated at diversified points of contact with customers and operations. ITOCHU will strengthen its sales channels in cooperation with its partner companies to deliver new value to more customers.
ITOCHU will commence the Service through ITOCHU Cable Systems Corp., its Group company, in August as a preliminary steps in this initiative. Leveraging its nationwide sales network and maintenance structure, ITOCHU will reach a wide range of customers.

ITOCHU has set its management policy with this theme: The Brand-new Deal - opportunities are shifting downstream –. ITOCHU will expand the business domain by understanding needs as they diversify with changes in society and by developing and evolving the downstream businesses to be closer to consumers.

About Asurion Japan

Company name Asurion Japan K.K.
Representative Takashi Maeda, President and CEO
Headquarters Ark Hills South Tower 10F, 1-4-5 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Established February 17, 2004
Capital 415 million yen
Number of employees 153
URL https://www.asurion.co.jp/en

About ITOCHU Cable Systems Corp.

Company name ITOCHU Cable Systems Corp.
Representative Takeyuki Takada, President and CEO
Headquarters Takanawa Park Tower, 3-20-14 Higashi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Established September 3, 1986
Capital 300 million yen
Number of employees 140
URL https://www.itochu-cable.co.jp/en/