LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo (photo: LG Group)
LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo participated in a dealers’ session on Jan. 3 to explain new products to be released by LG Electronics, the flagship company of the group, this year. This is the first time Group Chairman Koo made a field inspection since he brought up his management topic “overcoming a crisis” while delivering his New Year’s message one day earlier.
Chairman Koo received briefings from LG Electronics’ research institute chiefs and business executives on some 100 home appliance products on display at the session attended by about 900 invited dealership representatives from across the nation at KINTEX, north of Seoul, for two hours from 10 a.m. While there, he took a look at products including a 105-inch curved ultra high-definition (UHD) TV, a newly unveiled Whisen air-conditioner emitting natural aromas, and the 19kg (large-quantity) “Black-Label” washing machine. Among the participants were also LG Management Development Institute Vice Chairman Kang Yoo-shik; LG Electronics Vice Chairman Koo Bon-joon; LG U+ Vice Chairman Lee Sang-chul; LG International Corp. Vice Chairman Lee Hee-beom; LG Chem Vice Chairman Park Jin-soo; and LG Corp. President Cho Joon-ho.
Koo said, “We should depart from the supplier’s perspective that if items are produced to some advanced levels, they will sell well.” He asked a stream of questions from a buyer’s perspective, including, “How long this battery will last.”
In his New Year’s message, Chairman Koo spoke of a sense of crisis, saying, “The future business environment poses a crisis itself. Such economic circumstances as the strengthening of the Korean currency and the delayed economic recovery are still making it worse.”
Koo urged his group executives and staff members to stay alert, saying, “Even if the front-runners are completely off the guard, they will end up losing their stronghold.”
“We have to create products and services with conviction and passion enough to change customers’ lifestyles,” said the chairman, adding, “Our customers will have to feel fascinated whenever and wherever they meet our products.”
Koo called for leading technology and flawless quality as well as marketing, distribution, and services that can move clients’ hearts. All these will have to be united so as for LG to become the most beloved brand from customers and translate a crisis into opportunities, he said.
He demanded that his group should take the initiative in upgrading innovation further and building a foundation for the creative economy by joining forces with its potential cooperative companies.
LG Electronics, 100 Million Smartphone Seller
LG Electronics has surpassed the 100 million mark in the accumulative number of smartphones the company has sold around the globe.
Industry sources said LG Electronics has become a seller of more than 100 million smartphones around the world for the first time since the company launched the smarphone business in 2010.
LG Electronics sold 13 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of last year, a little more than 12 million units recorded for the previous quarter. The Korean electronics giant marketed 47.4 million units during the whole of 2013, a more than 80 percent surge over 26.2 million units sold in 2012. LG Electronics racked up 6.14 million and 20.20 million units in 2010 and 2011.
LG Electronics’ charming achievement was owed to the company’s balanced lineup of big- and low-ticket smarphones. In particular, LG Electronics’ premium smartphone “LG G2” rose to a 3 million unit seller around the globe in five months after its launch last August.
