Lyu Jae-cheol, president of LG Electronics, held his first press briefing since taking office as chief executive officer (CEO) and said, "Only by having speed and strong execution can we survive." On the home robot "LG Cloyd" unveiled at CES 2026, he noted, "It will leave the lab next year and enter the field."
On the 7th (local time), Lyu announced business strategies at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in the United States, where the world's largest IT and home appliance exhibition, "CES 2026," is being held. The briefing was joined by ▲ Baek Seung-tae, head of the HS Business Division at LG Electronics ▲ Park Hyoung-se, head of the MS Business Division at LG Electronics ▲ Eun Seok-hyun, head of the VS Business Division at LG Electronics.
Lyu emphasized that the corporations will achieve growth by securing ▲ fundamental competitiveness (Fundamental) ▲ shifting to a high-performance portfolio (High Performance) ▲ establishing a structure for growth based on profitability (Profitable Growth). He said, "LG Electronics, despite a difficult environment over the past few years, set medium- to long-term directions for change, added new growth engines through efforts to improve fundamentals, and has produced meaningful results," adding, "As the new CEO who has taken the baton of growth and change, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility."
He added, "The paradigm of industry and competition surrounding the business is changing rapidly at a speed we have never experienced, and I feel that at a pace similar to others, we can by no means be confident of securing leadership in the business," and said, "LG Electronics, too, must break away from past inertia, look squarely at the current competitive ecosystem with cool-headed clarity, and only with speed and strong execution that surpass it will we be able to survive."
As a strategy to secure "fundamental competitiveness," Lyu cited strengthening competitiveness in "quality, cost, delivery" (Quality, Cost, Delivery) and leadership in "research and development (R&D) and technology." To that end, the company created a new "Innovation Promotion Office" reporting directly to the CEO to serve as a companywide innovation control tower. In technology, rather than merely chasing promising areas, the plan is to select and concentrate on "Winning Tech" from the perspectives of customer value, business potential, and technological competitiveness. Lyu said, "With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the way we work has changed," adding, "We will build QCD competitiveness so we can definitely win the speed race using AI."
Lyu said the company will also accelerate portfolio shifts. The strategy is to foster and deliver results in ▲ business-to-business (B2B) such as vehicle components and heating, ventilation and air conditioning ▲ non-hardware (Non-HW) such as subscriptions and webOS ▲ online businesses such as direct-to-consumer sales. LG Electronics classified these as "qualitative growth areas." The share of these areas in total sales rose from 29% in 2021 to 45% in the second half of last year. Over the same period, the operating profit ratio increased from 21% to 90%.
LG Electronics plans to increase, rather than cut, investment for future growth compared with last year. While expanding the scale, it will maximize efficiency through selective focus based on strategic priorities. Lyu said, "I see the greatest growth opportunities in HVAC, including AI data centers," adding, "Robotics is also an area where we are considering investment."
The following is a Q&A between Lyu and key executives and reporters.
- The movements of the home robot "LG Cloyd" seem somewhat slow. What are the plans for advancement?
(Lyu Jae-cheol) It is true the movements are slower than the target level. However, because Cloyd operates in the "home," we are placing emphasis on safety and reliability, so there are areas where we are taking a cautious approach. We are improving movement speed through training, but it has not progressed to the level we want yet. Not all of the learning being conducted at the training factory has been loaded into the robot. I think within a few months the movement speed will rise to a level similar to a person.
- When will Cloyd launch and at what price range?
(Lyu Jae-cheol) Cloyd will leave the lab next year and enter the field. We are proceeding with pilots as planned, and the specific launch timing will be decided based on the results. The launch price will be finalized by assessing the value customers can feel on site. We are considering ways to improve customer access by linking it with home appliance subscription services or Robot as a Service.
- "LG Cloyd" appeared on stage during Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's special address. You are also collaborating with Google and Qualcomm; are there concerns about profitability?
(Lyu Jae-cheol) In the case of robots, it is hard to see this as an area that one company can do entirely on its own. While we have concentrated the overall capabilities of LG Group, including components, to develop Cloyd, there are still missing pieces. For areas like robot foundation models and training factories, I believe many partners are needed for collaboration. At this CES, we met partners directly and held prior consultations to quickly boost execution in areas we cannot solve on our own. Regarding the revenue structure, not all the specific specifications have been finalized, so it is difficult to discuss at this stage.
- Compared with TVs from Chinese corporations, what are LG Electronics' strengths?
(Park Hyoung-se) I toured the booths of Chinese corporations. TCL seemed to be driving mini RGB LED TVs, and Hisense emphasized similar products. We are analyzing how much value for the price these products can deliver to customers. We unveiled a micro RGB TV this time, and we are also analyzing where the differences lie.
LG Electronics believes organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products offer the best picture quality. We place OLED as the best product line, with liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs such as micro RGB and mini RGB below that. We plan to thoroughly prepare the various products unveiled at CES 2026 and launch them in the first half of this year. In terms of technological competitiveness, we do not intend to fall behind China.
- Are there plans for a voluntary retirement program in the TV business institutional sector?
(Lyu Jae-cheol) After touring the CES 2026 show floor, including competitors, I thought there could actually be many opportunities in the LCD TV field. I think the TV business will improve from the first quarter of this year. And as CEO, I expect to see effects from areas we have prepared starting in the second half of this year. We have implemented voluntary retirement several times as part of a healthy personnel cycle. However, there are currently no concrete plans for voluntary retirement.
- Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun visited the LG Electronics booth. What goals do you have in the vehicle components business this year?
(Eun Seok-hyun) Results in the vehicle components industry grew last year compared with the year before, and we expect growth this year as well. We are creating differentiated competitiveness in vehicle components using AI and delivering it to our clients. Chairman Chung also showed great interest in our various automotive solutions.
- Overall impressions of CES 2026?
(Lyu Jae-cheol) I got the sense that robots could be commercialized faster than expected. The pace of technological change is accelerating to the point that I feel we need to bring forward the roadmap schedule for Cloyd, which is undergoing pilot verification.