Tech giant renews robotics vision for 'labor-free' home
Korea Herald Correspondent
LAS VEGAS -- As US President-elect Donald Trump's second term is set to kick off this month, LG Electronics CEO Cho Joon-wan said the company has already came up with a "playbook," a set of response measures to policy changes under different scenarios.
"When President Trump assumes office and imposes tariffs or similar measures, we are prepared to adapt. We have our own playbook, that outlines specific methods for various scenarios," Cho said at a press conference held on the sidelines of CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Wednesday.
"We must address immediate concerns such as the implications of Trump 2.0 and our preparations for China’s growing influence. But we cannot afford to neglect preparing for the future. Striking the right balance between short-term issues and long-term strategies is critical for sustainable management."
Lee Sam-soo, LG's chief strategy officer, identified two potential impacts on business operations: Trump's trade and tariffs policy and a possible slowdown in the vehicle electrification trend.
To address the tariffs challenge, the company has options to change the manufacturing bases for producting certain products and swing production -- producing the same product in multiple manufacturing plants. Additionally, efficiently managing the inventory and manufacturing products in advance are part of the playbook, Lee explained.
Regarding the EV market, LG anticipates the market to slow down by about 2-3 years.
"We are assessing the size of the risk and are looking for ways to make up (losses), reviewing other business and product portfolios and markets, to minimize negativity," Lee added.
During the press conference, the executives also unveiled the company's plan to expand its robotics business, with a long-term goal of developing humanoid robots.
"I believe robotics is a future that is certainly happening. We are currently focusing on service robots in food and beverage sector and logistics," Cho said. "We are also preparing robotics technology for homes. Given the expansive potential of robotics, especially as it evolves into humanoids, we aim to address household chores with these technologies."
Chief Technology Officer Kim Byoung-hoon noted how barriers to entry into robotics development are being lowered thanks to emerging software and technologies such as digital twins.
"In our vision for a 'labor-free home,' humanoids can be considered as the ultimate goal," Kim said.
"With new software, tools and platforms helping engineers to acquire vast amounts of real world data, and better understand how physical movements can be realized virtually via simulation, we believe the development of humanoid robots can accelerate once demand in the market grows."
Last March, LG acquired a stake in Bear Robotics, a Silicon Valley-based startup specializing in AI-driven autonomous service robots, through an investment of $60 million, with a right to exercise a call option.
LG is also planning to release its "moving AI home hub" Q9 this year. The Q9, which debuted last year in IFA 2024, a consumer electronics show in Germany, will directly compete with Samsung Electronic Ballie, which is set to be launched in the first half of this year.
On China's aggressive expansion carving out its share in the global appliances market, Cho acknowledged the challenge saying, "In the past few years, we barely managed to identify China's growing presence as a potential threat. Now, it is time we take response measures."
Cho highlighted the possibility of China taking drastic measures, such as currency devaluation to enhance price competitiveness amid domestic market slowdowns and disputes with the US.
"The key is to maintain a competitive edge in our products. For cost competitiveness, we honestly have to catch up. Finally, we have to come up with new business models and methods, such as subsription service and direct-to-consumer approaches to differentiate our product with Chinese rivals," the CEO said.
On the company's initial public offering bid in India, Cho said securing funds from going public is one benefit, but the major goal is to become the country's national brand.
"We are confident about the (growth) potential of the Indian market. We already rank No. 1 in all product sectors in the country, from refrigerators to TVs. We don't want to stop there, but become the national brand in India." Cho said.
In India, where the air conditioner distribution rate stands at 10 percent, and more than 70-80 percent of the population living without refrigerators and laundry machines, LG wants to expand these percentages and save lives, Cho explained.
"India has low disposable and per capita income. But they do have a large pool of great talent. So we want to secure the talent and we will have to make more factories," the CEO said.
"India is where we can really do locally end-to-end or complete business and expand. My heart beats fast when I talk about India," he said.
LG Electronics' Indian arm filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board of India last December. The company is expected to raise as much as $1.8 billion, which would make the Indian affiliate one of the top five largest IPOs in the country's history.
