20 Years On
This year marked the 20th anniversary of the LG Group's rebranding of its name from “Lucky Gold Star” into “LG” in 1995. Also, it has been 20 years after LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo became the third chairman of the group, succeeding his father Koo Ja-kyung, the current honorary chairman of the group.
As the LG Group has focused on nurturing the three core businesses, including electronics, chemicals, and communication services, it has grown to become a global company with 150 trillion won (US$139.21 billion) in sales.
LG Group’s sales went up from 30 trillion won (US$27.84 billion) at the end of 1994 to 150 trillion won (US$139.21 billion) by the end of 2014. Its overseas sales increased from 10 trillion won (US$9.28 billion) to 100 trillion won (US$92.81 billion). The figures are a fivefold and 10-fold jump from 1994. During the same period, its market capitalization surged from 7 trillion won (US$6.5 billion) to 67 trillion won (US$62.18 billion). Also, the number of overseas branches grew from 90 to 290, and its workforce grew from 100,000 to 220,000, achieving a rapid growth in size.
With LG Group successfully converting into a holding company in 2003 for the very first time among Korean conglomerates, it broke the cycle of cross-shareholding, which was the chronic problem of large companies, and reorganized the management structure improving management transparency and efficiency. Therefore, the group is highly regarded, as it marking a new milestone in the business industry.
For the past 20 years in the core business sectors, the group has ranked top in the world in the sectors of displays, medium and large-sized secondary batteries, polarizing plates, and ABS. It leads the global market in the TV and smartphones sectors, while also leading innovation in the LTE communications market.
Ushering into the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), the group has recently accelerated its prior occupation of the home IoT market by strengthening its cooperation with the Z-Wave Alliance in the smart home industry, which is the world’s largest IoT business union.
Along with that, LG is focusing on nurturing next-generation growing businesses, including energy solutions and environmentally-friendly automobile parts. Moreover, the group is taking the initiative in the construction of cutting-edge R&D infrastructure, proceeding the development of the LG Science Park in Seoul’s Magok District.