Cho Joo-wan, CEO and president of LG Electronics, received the Order of Industrial Service Merit, Gold Tower, at the 20th Electronics and IT Day event held at COEX in Gangnam District, Seoul, on the 21st. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the Korea Electronics Association. This decoration is the highest grade among government awards conferred on businesspeople whose contributions to national industry development are recognized.
After joining GoldStar (now LG Electronics) in 1987, Cho has worked for about 37 years, handling tasks related to the growth and competitiveness of LG Electronics and Korea's electronics industry. Since 2021, as CEO, Cho has maintained the market position in the core home appliance business and enhanced technological competitiveness in the automotive components business, securing eight of the top 10 global finished carmakers as clients. Achievements such as reaching an order backlog of 100 trillion won and driving changes in LG Electronics' business portfolio were recognized.
LG Electronics is pushing a transition to a smart life solution corporations and is advancing its business portfolio. The goal is to evolve into a corporations that connects and expands experiences across various spaces where customers live, such as home, commercial, and mobility. To that end, LG Electronics will focus its capabilities on business-to-business areas such as vehicle components and heating, ventilation and air conditioning, as well as on non-hardware areas, including appliance subscriptions, webOS, and online businesses.
At the same time, LG Electronics is expanding its entry into emerging markets represented by the global south. Taking into account economic growth rates and population growth rates, the company plans to expand into emerging markets and use this as an opportunity for future growth. Recently, by listing its India subsidiary, it has been pushing to expand business in India, the world's most populous country.
The company is continuing to invest with a focus on core businesses and future growth engines, while pushing to strengthen global competitiveness. Last year's R&D investment increased by more than 11% from the previous year. Strategic investments are also continuing in future business areas such as AI and robotics.
Along with the automotive components business, LG Electronics' heating, ventilation and air conditioning business, one of its B2B operations, is also pursuing growth through heating solutions, AI data center cooling solutions, and chillers in addition to residential and commercial air conditioners. Recently, large-scale orders, including AI data center cooling solutions, have been continuing in global markets such as North America, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Asia.
In the core home appliance business, appliance subscriptions that combine products and services have taken root as one of the business areas. LG Electronics is expanding its subscription business into global markets, including Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Singapore, as well as in Korea. Last year's appliance subscription revenue reached about 2 trillion won, and the compound annual growth rate over the past five years exceeds 30%.
The company is also pushing a shift in its business structure through platform-based services. The advertising and content business based on the smart TV operating system webOS falls into this category. Last year, webOS advertising and content business revenue exceeded the originally targeted 1 trillion won.