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By News Reporter
Company Pursues New Growth Engines,
Enhancing Customer Experience at Every Contact Point
LG will innovate with a platform-based service business model that continuously generates profits, such as content and services, subscriptions and solutions, to the hardware-oriented businesses, which generate sales and profits at the time of purchase. This is part of the company’s attempt to create a business model centered on customer engagement, combining services with hundreds of millions of LG devices used by customers around the world.
To start, as of the end of this year, LG’s TV business is projected to make a great transformation based on its webOS operating system, which powers more than 200 million smart TVs around the world. In line with this, the company intends to transform its TV business portfolio into a “media and entertainment service provider” by expanding content, services and advertisement in products, including LG OLED and LG QNED TVs, which have differentiated competitiveness.
The company will invest more than KRW 1 trillion over five years to strengthen the content competitiveness and drive growth of LG Channels – an advertising-based free broadcast platform. LG Channels increased from 20 million users in 25 countries last year to 48 million users in 29 countries this year. To achieve quantitative growth, LG will expand customer contact points by increasing the supply of the webOS platform to external TV brands and expand the application of webOS to other product groups.
Household appliances are also speeding up the transformation of service-based portfolios. The goal is to further evolve LG ThinQ UP appliances that upgrade functions customers need even after purchase and evolve into a “Home as a Service” platform that combines hyper-personalization, subscriptions and smart home services. LG ThinQ will support the emerging home solutions business that encompasses the entire house by adding services that customers need in the home complementing connected devices.
The home appliance rental and care service business is also expanding to include all services necessary for spaces in the house, including product maintenance, management and cleaning. The compound annual growth rate of LG’s rental and care service sales has exceeded 30 percent over the past five years.
Accelerating the expansion of its B2B businesses, the company aims to evolve its electric vehicle (EV) business into a top electric component part provider worth more than KRW 20 trillion by more than doubling sales by 2030. Responding to trends, such as vehicle electrification and connected services, LG is actively seeking new opportunities in future mobility areas, such as autonomous driving, software solutions and content. The order backlog of LG’s Vehicle component Solutions Company is expected to reach KRW 100 trillion by the end of the year, showing the competitiveness of the business.
By 2030, LG aims to double sales for its heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) business and become a global top-tier comprehensive air conditioning company. The company also plans to discover organic strategies, such as completing mergers and acquisitions and making equity investments. The company is establishing a localized business structure that covers research and development, production, sales and maintenance of air conditioning projects in major regions such as North America and Europe. Also, LG will preemptively prepare for the future in energy service sectors, such as energy storage systems, home energy management systems and virtual power plants.
In the case of built-in home appliances, the company will expand markets in North America and Europe, which account for more than 70 percent of the global market and foster LG to become one of the top five built-in appliance brands. Commercial displays provide customized solutions for each specific customer group and secure growth momentum.
Over the past two years, considering market conditions and evolving business model strategies, the company boldly exited its mobile phone and solar panel businesses and, instead, focused resources on future high-growth areas. In the future, LG plans to accelerate future development by selecting and concentrating on new businesses that are expected to have similarly high growth potential.
The company is also continuing its strategic investment in digital healthcare, a key focus of the North American Innovation Center known as LG NOVA based in Silicon Valley, California. The scale of investment in LG NOVA is also on the rise. Among other LG NOVA-led initiatives, LG is providing remote medical treatment solutions in North America through the partnership with Amwell, a U.S. telemedicine company. In the future, the company will consider expanding its services through strategy investment to preventative and follow-up management.
LG’s EV charging business has an aim to provide an integrated solution that encompasses the control area, not just the sales of chargers. The company recently launched four products in South Korea through its affiliate company HiEV Charger and will expand markets to Europe and Asia next year. LG also plans to start building additional production bases within the year to target the North American market.
The company is also establishing a wide range of strategic collaborations in the metaverse. Mixed Reality devices are continuously being developed jointly with leading global platform companies, while the development of Augmented Reality devices is underway at the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT’s project to advance the development of AR Glass Advancement and the building of content production ecosystem. Various efforts are also being made to provide a more immersive experience on large screens, such as TVs.
Breaking Business Limitations via Full Potential Strategy
LG has been operating a company-wide task force to preemptively respond to changes in the business environment. The task force aims to not only reduce short-term costs but also promote fundamental changes in business structure and methods to maximize business potential, securing suitable profit levels and promoting sustainable growth despite prolonged economic uncertainty.
These efforts have contributed greatly to LG’s performance as well. The company’s sales and operating profit in the second quarter of 2023 were the highest ever for the second quarter. In the first half of 2023, the company recorded the second highest sales ever and the third highest operating profit. These tangible results were achieved by improving the fundamentals of the business despite the prolonged slump in global demand.
LG believes that, in order to innovate the customer experience (CX), a company needs to advance digital transformation (DX) as it is essential to have a data-based understanding of customers to reflect hidden needs – which customers may not be aware of – in products and services. In this regard, the company is making efforts to combine CX and DX to make a business model to better communicate with customers by establishing various points of contact, provide a never-before-seen CX, build organizational capabilities to research and plan differentiated CX and innovate experiences throughout the customer experience journey.
To expand customer contact points, LG will strengthen direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales through LGE.com, the company’s online brand shop, and increase operation of pop-up stores to interact with the younger generation, including Gen Z. The number of visitors of pop-up stores throughout Korea since last year adds up to 600,000.
To plan and develop new products, the company actively utilized systems internally to understand customers based on data and discover hidden needs. This includes “Lifegraphy,” a customer data analysis system, and “IC 360 (Intellytics Customer 360),” a company-wide platform that integrates and manages customer data collected from all customer contact points.
In addition, in terms of organizational capabilities, LG is defining and applying its core customer experiences to products and services through customer behavior research led by the CX Center. The company is actively making changes in customer-centric working methods, with employees voluntarily participating in campaigns to define ‘customers’ and ‘customer value.’
Spreading Change Across Organizational Culture and Brand to Business Strategy
Internally, REINVENT LG, an organizational culture innovation campaign, was put in place to change the way of working and communicating at LG. By doing this, the company hopes to reinvent the brand by having employees lead changes themselves.
Transformations have also been made to bring a dynamic and youthful look to the brand at customer contact points. Changes that redefine the brand’s core values – Uncompromising Customer Experience, Human-Centered Innovation and Warmth to Power a Smile – and add dynamism to LG’s visual identity are actively being made around the world.
Supporting the ESG vision of a Better Life for All, the company has made six core commitments: achieving carbon neutrality, circular economies, eco-conscious products, sustainable supply chains, an inclusive organizational culture, and accessible products and services.
In particular, LG plans to actively expand various activities that customers can engage in, enabling them to better relate to the company’s ESG vision and understand its meaning and significance. With ESG management not only focused on suppliers, LG’s vision also takes ESG to a new level to instill a sense of pride in consumers that they positively contributed to the environment by selecting LG’s products and services, providing an experience of increased convenience and usability.
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By News Reporter
Recent Seoul Smart ITS 2.0 Deployment Project and 5GAA Demonstration
Showcase Company’s Solution to Protect Vulnerable Road Users and Drivers
SEOUL, June 12, 2023 — LG Electronics (LG) is accelerating the advancement of traffic safety solutions that utilize vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. V2X enables vehicles to communicate with one another and surrounding infrastructure and will play a major role in the upcoming era of autonomous driving.
In conjunction with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, LG recently completed the deployment of an advanced accident prevention system and verified its service effectiveness and usefulness in school zone areas in Seoul, Korea through the ‘Seoul Smart ITS 2.0 Deployment Project.’ The project featured the deployment of the company’s in-house-developed 5G Network-based V2X system, ‘Soft V2X.’
Soft V2X is a cloud-based service that collects and analyzes a range of data, including location, direction and speed of pedestrians and vehicles. This data is then used to inform drivers and vulnerable road users of potential traffic safety risks in real time. The solution can also communicate nearby road conditions and traffic signals by linking with smart Roadside Unit (RSU) equipped with an AI camera. Easy to use, the Soft V2X app can be installed via smartphone application* and easily be integrated into various connected mobility devices such as e-bikes, e-scooters, motorbikes as well as in-vehicle infotainment or telematics systems.
The recent demonstration was conducted in school zone areas encompassing two elementary schools and a kindergarten in Gangseo-gu – a suburb in western Seoul – and involved a total of 6,700 participants. Over a six-month period, Soft V2X sent over 40,000 traffic hazard notifications to pedestrians and vehicles, with 74.8 percent of pedestrians and 68.4 percent of drivers and vulnerable road users taking proper actions to avoid potential accidents, such as reducing their velocity or changing moving direction.
The project provided confirmation that Soft V2X, in conjunction with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) infrastructure, can reliably deliver a variety of traffic safety information and services. LG’s solution also proved effective at raising users’ awareness of traffic safety, helping to minimize potential collision accident risks and encouraging people to exercise appropriate caution in real traffic environments.
With the 26th 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) Meeting held in Seoul on May 11, LG took the opportunity to invite 70 global automakers and industry experts to participate in the demonstration and experience Soft V2X for themselves. Those who joined in had high praise for LG’s solution, noting the effectiveness of its real-time notifications in positively modifying behavior to keep people safe.
Going forward, LG will further enhance the usability of Soft V2X and refine the services it provides based on feedback from the project’s participants. During a trial event at the upcoming 5GAA meeting in Detroit, USA, this October, the company will introduce a more advanced Soft V2X solution that can offer services tailored to the specific needs and demands of different markets.
The company expects there will be a strong interest in Soft V2X given the recent surge of interest in pedestrian safety, government-led discussions on the establishment of next-generation Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) and other vertical industries.
“We will secure technology leadership in cloud-based connected mobility platform for vehicle and pedestrian safety through continuous research and development,” said Je Yeong-ho, head of C&M Standard Lab. at LG Electronics.
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* Can be downloaded via App Store or Google Play Store.
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By News Reporter
Each year, millions of home appliances reach the end of their operational lifespans and are taken away for disposal.* However, their story doesn’t have to finish there. Through transformative processes and technologies, these discarded devices can be reborn as brand-new appliances, offering features and performance tailored to the needs and preferences of today’s consumers.
Let’s explore how old appliances are being turned into up-to-date and environmentally-conscious living solutions by one of the leading innovators in the home appliance industry.
Urban Mining: Unearthing New Resources From Discarded Appliances
‘Urban mining’ means extracting valuable resources from ‘retired’ household appliances. It involves recovering and sorting any raw materials that can be used in the creation of new products. Unlike incineration – a fate that befalls many disused appliances – this course of action helps reduce carbon emissions and prevent environmental pollution. An active urban miner, LG extracts several different materials from discarded appliances – including plastic, iron and non-ferrous metals – and then uses them to help produce its advanced, new offerings.
LG Recycling Center: Giving New Life to Old Appliances
Since the end of 2021, LG has been implementing resource circulation programs in a total of 52 countries worldwide as part of its extensive efforts to combat greenhouse gas emissions. At the LG Recycling Center in South Korea, which commenced operations in 2001, raw materials are harvested from disposed-of home appliances, meticulously sorted and processed before being made into ‘fresh’ eco-responsible appliance components.
Here are the four main steps taken at the LG Recycling Center that make it possible to turn old appliances into high-quality parts for new products.
Step 1: Collection – Used appliances such as refrigerators, washers and air conditioners are collected and transported to the center.
Step 2: Disassemble and Crush – The appliances are taken apart, and the components are crushed to achieve a consistent size.
Step 3: Sorting and Processing – After iron, aluminum, copper and plastic materials have been sorted, the plastics are put through an additional process where they are made into pellets; a convenient and renewable resource for the manufacturing of plastic parts and goods.
Step 4: Rebirth – The pellets are melted and transformed into plastic parts for use in the production of new LG home appliances.
Recycled Plastics: Giving Life to LG’s Captivating Designs
Recycled plastics play an important role in bringing the captivating designs of LG’s home appliances to life, including those of the recently launched LG Styler ShoeCare and ShoeCase. The LG PuriCare AeroFurniture air purifier and the LG tiiun mini, which come in an array of vibrant colors to enliven the home, also employ recycled plastics. Used in the construction of both products’ exteriors, these repurposed materials contribute to the aesthetic appeal of LG’s innovations and help reduce resource consumption and waste.
A Continuous Virtuous Cycle for the Planet and Consumers
LG has fully embraced a ‘Sustainable Cycle’ approach, building eco-consciousness into every stage of the home appliance lifecycle, from production and packaging to usage and recycling. The company continues to utilize recycled materials extracted and processed at the CRC in the manufacture of new appliances – appliances that minimize power consumption and emissions, and are themselves highly recyclable. In this way, LG has created a virtuous cycle that simultaneously benefits the planet and consumers.
Stepping up its efforts even further, LG plans to reach a cumulative total of 600,000 tons of recycled plastics (for producing home appliance components) by the beginning of the next decade. The ambitious target is set out in the company’s ‘Better Life Plan 2030,’ and also forms part of LG’s broader strategy to achieve carbon neutrality.
Also by 2030, LG estimates it will have recovered 8 million tons of out-of-use appliances for the purpose of extracting recycled materials.
By implementing initiatives such as proper product disposal and the extraction of materials from discarded products, LG is able to create something new from something old, showing how a firm commitment to people and the planet can help make a better life for all.
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*According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), roughly nine million refrigerators/freezers, six million window air conditioning units and nearly one million dehumidifiers are disposed of each year. ( link hidden, please login to view)
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By News Reporter
LG Expands Local Content, Launches Premium Channels for Movie Buffs and
Drama Aficionados, and Delivers Enhanced Cross-Device User Experience
SEOUL, April 17, 2023 — LG Electronics’ (LG) exclusive, free streaming service, LG Channels, has tripled its user base in Europe over the last year. The strong growth reflects the increasing popularity of LG’s premium service and of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) in Europe and worldwide. LG Channels was first launched in 2016 in the U.S. and in 2019 in select European countries.
According to LG data as of January 2023, the number of LG Channels users in the 16 European markets where the service is offered grew by a factor of three. This significant boost in active users represents an increase of over 200 percent. Along with this, there has been a noteworthy uptick in viewing time across several content categories, including movies, TV series, music and news.
Industry experts expect the global growth of FAST services and channels to continue with the U.K. and Germany anticipated to be among the biggest FAST markets by 2027.1 To meet the growing demand for FAST, LG will bolster its service with new content – more of which will be made available on the LG Channels mobile app2 – and convenient, new features to enhance viewing pleasure and the user experience.
LG Channels is constantly expanding its content library and is offering an increasing number of local-language channels, spanning diverse categories such as news, lifestyle, TV series, movies and sports. When it comes to sports, thanks to a new partnership with DAZN, LG Channels will feature the new DAZN FAST and newly announced DAZN Rise, the first 24/7 streaming channel dedicated purely to women sports.3 Through a new partnership with Funke Digital, LG Channels now provides access to a variety of FAST channels covering some of the best fiction and entertainment contents, with plenty of films including PLAION’s Netzkino, ranging from action to thriller, comedy and romance.
To give users more options when viewing on-the-go, LG has also expanded content availability on the LG Channels mobile app. In Germany, users can now watch hundreds of hours of content from 50 popular channels, including Auto Motor und Sport, which offers the latest in car testing and wedo TV, where viewers can watch a variety of free content from movies to sports.
Additionally, LG is launching advertising video on demand (AVOD) titles4 in five European countries, with content offered in English, German, Spanish and other languages. These AVOD titles are provided thanks to collaborations with companies like Minerva Pictures, an independent film production and distribution company based in Rome, active in the film and audiovisual market since 1950, LoveTV Channels, which targets niche audiences passionate of themes such as cinema, environment or wine and Shoot for Love, which targets football fans.
What’s more, thanks to the collaboration with ITV Studios, new channels will be added such as Storylands – featuring high-quality, award-winning European drama produced by ITV Studios labels in France, Italy and the Nordics – and Hell’s Kitchen, a program hosted by world-famous Michelin-starred chef, Gordon Ramsay, filled with cutthroat competition and explosive entertainment.
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1 Source: Omdia ( link hidden, please login to view)
2 Available in the US and Germany. Content availability varies by market.
3 DAZN Fast and DAZN Rise to be made available in the upcoming months starting in Germany, Austria and Spain.
4 Country availability varies.
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By News Reporter
In a world controlled by Internet of Things (IoT) – a network of interconnected physical objects – users leave small online traces, like digital fingerprints. This is better known as ‘digital dust,’ made mostly of unstructured and semi-structured data which can be converted into meaningful insight in the mind of the user through the power of Internet of Behaviors (IoB). Most simply put, IoT collects large amounts of data from devices which IoB then connects to real-world actions.
Proving information helpful in identifying users’ tastes, preferences and habits, IoB has become a crucial tool for developing quality products and services tailored to users’ needs across various industries, including mobility. As digital software becomes more important for developing modern vehicles by promoting better communication between vehicles and various entertainment displays, IoB’s role in the automotive industry is rapidly growing.
So, how does IoB play its part in the development of future automobiles?
Driving Tendency
link hidden, please login to view, as discussed in our previous episode, is a vehicle information communication technology that connects cars to the network. Not limited to collecting innumerable behavioral data such as driving habits or patterns, when combined with other demographic data such as age, gender and driving history, telematics also becomes a rich source for IoB. By categorizing consumers into different groups, IoB can give unprecedented insight into the mind of the user, such as seeing which features are favored by younger male drivers or if driving styles change according to weather conditions. By providing important insight about different types of drivers, automakers can upgrade vehicle performance by remedying shortcomings and developing features that speak to their target market.
Face Recognition and Gesture Control System
People were left speechless when digital vehicle displays were first introduced, allowing drivers to control their car with a simple swipe or touch of the screen. Now that vehicle touch displays are commonplace, manufacturers are entering the next phase: touchless systems that use biometric data and body gestures via interior cameras to hand the driver effortless, hands-free control.
To realize this, each gesture must be coupled with different behavioral data, like a certain hand gesture being assigned for making phone calls. The more data accumulated, the more accurate IoB can be in enhancing the touchless technology and elevating the customer experience to the next level.
Voice Recognition System
Voice recognition-enabled features ensure hands stay firmly on the wheel for the safest, most convenient driving experience. Many automakers are pursuing various voice-controlled features by collecting voice data via the vehicle’s audio devices. With the help of IoB, this could evolve into an intelligent dialog service capable of comprehending the context and intentions behind someone’s words. If a passenger were to say, “It’s too hot,” an AI speaker might suggest opening a window or automatically circulate outside air through the cabin.
Reacting to Surroundings
Building a sophisticated system, which collects circumstantial data on the vehicle’s external environment, is just as pivotal to improving in-vehicle experiences as everything else. For autonomous vehicles especially, it’s essential because precisely recognizing the surroundings allows automobiles to make decisions like when to stop, go and which direction to head. Almost every external behavior is analyzed, such as someone running into the road unexpectedly or the speed, direction and particularities of other vehicles on the road or parked. IoB technology puts all this information to good use, bringing future mobility another step closer to reality.
Unlike a decade ago, the future of mobility now depends on the development of software with driving and in-vehicle experiences diversifying as different software systems come into play. The data collected and analyzed through IoB will enhance hardware and software with the customer in mind, allowing automakers to influence future consumer behavior and transform people’s lifestyles for the better.
To keep pace with this trend, the LG Vehicle component Solutions (VS) Company is constantly developing new cutting-edge automobile systems, such as infotainment, center information display (CID), telematics and wireless charging modules for vehicles products, using IoB technologies to invent new and improved customer experiences. LG will continue to endeavor toward a new era where next-level mobility is realized through the power of cutting-edge technologies.
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