LG Electronics Inc. (Korean: 엘지 전자; RR: Elji Jeonja) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest chaebol in South Korea, and often considered as the pinnacle of LG Corp with the group's chemical and battery division LG Chem. It comprises four business units: Home Appliance Solution (HS), Media Entertainment Solution (MS), Vehicle Solution (VS), and Eco Solution (ES). LG Electronics' product portfolio includes televisions and audio products, home appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, washing machines, tumble dryers and air conditioners, as well as commercial and industrial products. The company is associated with technologies such as OLED television displays, the webOS smart TV platform, and the LG ThinQ smart home ecosystem. LG Electronics acquired Zenith in 1995 and is the largest shareholder of LG Display, the world's largest display company by revenue in 2020. LG Electronics is also the world's second largest television manufacturer behind Samsung Electronics. The company has 128 operations worldwide, employing 83,000 people.
History
1958–1977: Foundation and domestic expansion
In 1958, LG Electronics was founded as GoldStar (Korean: 금성). It was established in the aftermath of the Korean War to provide the rebuilding nation with domestically produced consumer electronics and home appliances. The start of the country's national broadcasting that created a booming electronics market and a close relationship it quickly forged with Hitachi helped GoldStar to produce South Korea's first radios, televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners. GoldStar was the electronics division of Lak-Hui (pronounced "Lucky") Chemical Industrial Corp. which is now LG Chem and LG Household & Health Care. GoldStar merged with Lucky Chemical and GoldStar Cable on 28 February 1995, changing the corporate name to Lucky-Goldstar and then finally to LG Electronics. Goldstar first went public in 1970; by 1976, it was producing one million televisions annually.
1978–1999: Global expansion and brand transformation In 1978, the company also surpassed US$100 million in exports. In 1982, Goldstar opened its first overseas factory, which was based in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1994, GoldStar officially adopted the LG Electronics brand and a new corporate logo. In 1995, LG Electronics acquired the US-based TV manufacturer Zenith and absorbed it four years later. Also in that year, LG Electronics made the world's first CDMA digital mobile handsets and supplied Ameritech and GTE in the US, the LGC-330W digital cellular phone. The company was also awarded UL certification in the US. In 1998, LG developed the world's first 60-inch plasma TV and established a joint venture in 1999 with Philips – LG.Philips LCD – which now goes by the name LG Display. In 1999, LG Semiconductor merged with Hynix.
2000–2010: Digital electronics and display LG Electronics had operated LGE.com in 2000. In order to create a holding company, the former LG Electronics was split off in 2002, with the "new" LG Electronics being spun off and the "old" LG Electronics changing its name to LG EI. It was then merged with and into LG CI in 2003 (the legal successor of the former LG Chem), so the company that started as GoldStar does not exist. In 2004, LG.Philips LCD completed an initial public offering and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Korea Exchange; it was later renamed LG Display. By 2005, LG was a Top 100 global brand and recorded a brand growth of 14% in 2006. As of 2009, its display manufacturing affiliate, LG Display, was the world's largest LCD panel manufacturer. LG Electronics has since continued to develop various electronic products, such as releasing the world's first 84-inch ultra-HD TV for retail sale.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
