Who does KONE serve among global building owners and urban infrastructure operators?
KONE targets building owners, property managers, and urban developers who need reliable vertical mobility. The market matters because these customers drive recurring maintenance and modernization revenue; KONE reported EUR 11.2 billion in sales in 2025, signaling strong demand for services and upgrades.
KONE's customers favor long-term contracts and digital service platforms, so cross-selling maintenance and modernization boosts lifetime value; see Kone SWOT Analysis.
Who Is Kone Really Trying to Reach?
KONE is targeting professional B2B buyers: real estate developers and general contractors for new equipment, building owners and facility managers for service and modernization, and public authorities/transit agencies for large infrastructure projects.
Main customer group: Developers and Contractors
Real estate developers and general contractors drive new equipment sales across high-rise residential, commercial, retail, and healthcare projects, often specifying KONE elevator clients for premium and large-scale builds.
Secondary groups: Owners, FM teams, and Public Agencies
Building owners and property managers generate recurring revenue via maintenance and modernization; public authorities and transit agencies provide multi-year contracts for airports, metros, and civic infrastructure.
Customer type and market role
KONE serves a predominantly B2B market: institutions, real estate firms, and public agencies, with end users (residents, commuters, patients) benefiting indirectly from KONE solutions for residential buildings and condos and KONE services for commercial office buildings.
Most important segment by revenue
Building owners and facility managers are most important: KONE reports a global service base of 1.6 to 1.7 million units in 2025, and service & modernization account for the largest share of recurring revenue under the 2025-2030 Rise strategy.
Core customer focus
KONE is really trying to reach developers for new-install wins, building owners/facility managers for long-term service revenue, and public transport authorities for stable, large contracts; the 2025-2030 Rise strategy intensifies focus on residential and premium global assets.
- Real estate developers and general contractors
- Building owners and property managers served by KONE
- Primarily B2B with institutional and municipal customers
- Building owners/facility managers are the most commercially important segment
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What Do Kone's Customers Care About?
KONE customers prioritize optimizing people flow: speed-to-occupancy for developers, uptime and NOI for asset managers, and ESG and digital transparency for operators seeking lower operating costs and emissions.
Speed to Occupancy
Developers need on-time installs and low total installed cost so projects open on schedule and reach revenue service quickly.
Operational Efficiency
Property managers and facility heads focus on uptime, targeting above 99 percent, to protect NOI and tenant retention.
ESG and Energy Savings
Customers demand energy-efficient modernization that can cut carbon emissions by up to 78 percent for sustainability targets and regulatory compliance.
Digital Transparency
Building owners use connected services to move from reactive to predictive maintenance; KONE 24/7 Connected Services reduces repair call-outs by over 40 percent.
Tenant Experience
Tenants value reliability and smooth people flow; faster, predictable journeys improve retention and perceived building quality.
Competitive Differentiation
Developers and owners choose suppliers that deliver low TCO, measurable uptime, ESG credentials, and data-driven service-clear commercial advantages.
What Those Customers Care About
KONE customers-developers, building owners served by KONE, property managers and KONE services, architects and contractors using KONE-prioritize reliable people flow, low total installed cost, high equipment uptime (> 99 percent), energy-efficient modernization (up to 78 percent emissions reduction), and digital transparency via connected services that cut repair call-outs by > 40 percent. See operational and ESG wins in How Kone Company Runs
- Optimize people flow across mixed-use, office, residential, healthcare, retail, and transit environments
- Lower lifecycle costs and protect NOI through high uptime and predictive maintenance
- Pride in sustainable, low-carbon building operations
- Clear choice for integrated service, modernization, and digital monitoring
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Where Is Demand Strongest for Kone?
Demand for Kone is strongest in Asia-Pacific for new equipment and in North America and Europe for modernization and services, with Middle Eastern mega-projects driving premium new-install demand.
Main Market: Asia-Pacific new equipment
Asia-Pacific-led by India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand-accounts for the largest new equipment orders as rapid urbanization and in 2025 infrastructure spending lift volume; Greater China remains large but its order share fell from approximately 40% in Q1 2024 to about 30% in Q1 2025, driving geographic diversification.
Secondary Markets: North America & Europe, and Middle East mega-projects
Modernization and services are strongest in North America and Europe due to aging building stocks and retrofit demand; Middle Eastern markets-Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar-push high-rise new installations and premium infrastructure projects.
Where Kone Is Strongest
Kone's revenue mix shows strength in services and modernization in developed markets, with stable service contract backlogs and recurring maintenance income supporting margins; KONE customers include property managers, building owners served by KONE, and large developers across regions.
Where Demand Is Growing
Fastest growth in 2025/2026 comes from Southeast Asia urban projects and retrofit programs in Europe/North America; airport and transit hub upgrades, plus healthcare and senior-housing accessibility projects, also expand demand for KONE elevator maintenance for property managers and KONE modernization for high-rise towers.
Where Demand Is Strongest
Most concentrated demand: new-equipment orders in Asia-Pacific and modernization/services in North America and Europe; Middle Eastern mega-projects are a distinct high-value market.
- Asia-Pacific new-equipment demand-India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand
- North America and Europe-modernization and recurring maintenance
- Kone appears strongest in service contract revenue and retrofit projects
- Priority growth: Southeast Asia urbanization and retrofits in developed markets
Further context on company evolution and market positioning available in the History of Kone Company Explained
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How Does Kone Keep Its Audience Growing?
KONE keeps its audience growing by converting new installations into long-term service annuities and scaling modernization and digital services, expanding reach across building owners, property managers, architects, and contractors while improving retention through predictive maintenance and fast emergency response.
Conversion of Installations into Service Annuities
KONE adds KONE customers by locking the vertical-transportation lifecycle: new KONE elevator clients become service contract holders, and bundled installation-plus-service offers open adjacent segments like residential condos and mixed-use developments.
Customer Retention Drivers
Predictive maintenance (remote monitoring), fast emergency repair services, and tailored service plans for property managers and building owners served by KONE reduce churn; Service sales rose 8.5 percent in Q1 2025, signaling stickier contracts.
Loyalty, Repeat Demand, or Customer Depth
Modernization and upgrades drive repeat demand: modernization sales grew ~20 percent in Q1 2025 as KONE services for commercial office buildings, high-rise towers, and shopping centers led renewals and multi-site contracts.
Strongest Customer-Base Growth Lever
The Rise strategy-accelerating digital transformation to be the easiest company to work with-remains the main growth lever, converting installations into annuities and increasing cross-sell into KONE modernization for high-rise towers and KONE maintenance contracts for shopping centers.
How It Keeps the Audience Growing
KONE grows audience size and retention by locking customers into lifecycle services, scaling modernization, and using digital tools under the Rise strategy to simplify interactions; Q1 2025 momentum underpins a 2026 outlook of 2-6 percent comparable sales growth and an adjusted EBIT margin target of 12.3-13.0 percent.
- Main growth driver: Conversion of installations to long-term service annuities
- Strongest retention factor: Predictive maintenance and rapid emergency repair services
- Key loyalty mechanism: Modernization-led renewals and multi-site service contracts
- Main risk: Slower new-build activity reducing conversion opportunities
Read more on KONE competitive positioning in this article: Who Kone Company Competes With
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Frequently Asked Questions
Kone mainly targets B2B buyers. Its core customers are real estate developers and general contractors for new equipment, along with building owners, property managers, and facility managers for service and modernization. Public authorities and transit agencies are also important for airports, metros, and other infrastructure projects.
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