LG has just made a big announcement. Samsung's rival brand aims to become a “media and entertainment platform company.” To achieve this goal, it will invest KRW 1 trillion ($753 million) in the webOS business over the next five years. The announcement was made at the webOS Partner Summit 2023, which was held at the LG Science Park in Seoul, South Korea. The event was attended by over 300 people, including content producers, providers, developers, and industry figures from more than thirty countries.
According to LG, this transformation will “enrich customers' lives by delivering valuable services and a unique collection of curated content in products, including LG OLED and LG QNED TVs.” As a part of the new strategy, the company plans to expand the webOS platform to other product categories, and as a result of that, the brand expects to have a total of 300 million webOS-powered devices in the next three years. That's a 100 million jump over the current number of webOS-powered devices, which is 200 million.
LG will invest around $753 million to improve webOS and expand it to other product categories
LG says that the investment of KRW 1 trillion will “provide more content and services that cater to the diverse lifestyles and preferences of consumers. By boosting its competitiveness in content and services, LG believes it will further elevate the webOS user experience.” The investment will be focused on “broadening the range of content available via the webOS platform, boosting usability by innovating the UI and UX, and strengthening partnerships with content production companies on a global scale.“
LG also says that it is working on strengthening innovation in the area of AI-based search and recommendations, and as a part of this effort, the company plans to incorporate a “voice user interface (VUI)” feature into the apps of partner companies. According to the brand, this feature will allow people to easily control and navigate third-party content services (apps) with their voice on the webOS platform, which will “enable swift and seamless content discovery.”
To make this possible, LG is partnering with academic institutions in South Korea to “nurture the next generation of software talent” and “secure top-notch software professionals all around the globe.” The theme of this event was ‘Sync to You, Open to All.' According to the company, this vision “expresses the company's aim to provide personalized experiences that cater to each customer's preferences and lifestyle and to create products that are accessible to all.“
So, what does this move from LG mean for Samsung? Going by the details shared by LG, it looks like the company will solely focus on improving and expanding the webOS platform and on the company's OLED and QNED TVs to transition into a media and entertainment company. So, it's possible that LG might not focus much on other products, including home appliances, which could benefit Samsung as it can capture more of the consumer electronics market.
