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Seungtae Baek, head of LG Electronics’ Home Appliance Solution Division (HS Division) (pictured), presented a vision to accelerate the company’s push into global markets, with built-in appliances for builders, commercial washing machines, and robot components as its three main pillars. While LG Electronics has so far focused on business-to-consumer (B2C) products such as refrigerators and washing machines, it plans to expand its business-to-business (B2B) operations across the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.
Baek met with reporters on September 5 local time at IFA 2026, Europe’s largest consumer electronics and information technology (IT) exhibition, in Berlin, and said, “In the past, we mainly focused on B2C businesses, but recently we have been concentrating our capabilities on B2B operations to improve our business portfolio.” He added, “B2B sales currently account for slightly more than 10% of our total revenue, and we are investing significant resources in three areas: built-in appliances, commercial washing machines, and components.” He continued, “The home appliance business is growing rapidly, led by built-in appliances and commercial laundry appliances. We will expand our business competitiveness into global markets, including Europe, while broadening our B2B-specific solutions across the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors by developing businesses involving robot actuators and AI home solutions.”
LG Electronics’ built-in and commercial laundry appliance businesses have recorded average annual sales growth of more than 40% over the past three years, becoming key growth drivers for the HS Division. In North America, in particular, the company achieved average annual sales growth of approximately 45% over the same period. The built-in business involves signing contracts with construction companies and specialized interior design firms to supply refrigerators, ovens, washing machines, and other appliances as packages for residential spaces.
LG Electronics is also accelerating its expansion in Europe, more than doubling its sales staff specializing in built-in appliances.
Following built-in appliances and laundry appliances, LG Electronics plans to develop actuators, which function as joints in robots, as another growth driver for its new businesses. The company plans to establish a mass-production system for LG Actuator AXIUMTM within this year and begin seeking orders.
Baek said, “LG Electronics’ technological capability to make actuator motors 30% lighter than those of competitors is our differentiator.” He added, “As we are discussing product supplies with various big tech companies, we expect to have good news as early as next month.”
[Minki Park, Berlin]
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.