LG to Double Smart Home Investment by 2020

Makes sense, given how much LG has done with advanced appliances, we examined a number of these.

LG to double smart home investment by 2020     By Lee Min-hyung

Song Dae-hyun, president at LG Electronics' home appliance and air systems unit, tells a press conference in Berlin about LG's plan to expand its smart home business. / Courtesy of LG Electronics
LG Electronics plans to double its annual investment in its smart home business by 2020, with the emerging tech area expected to be the hub to interconnect all trending technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and robots.

At an annual IFA tradeshow in Germany, the Seoul-based electronics giant unveiled its vision to lead the lucrative smart home industry. Toward this end, the company plans to expand its R&D workforce by more than 50 percent until 2020.

"We are going to push for an open innovation — focusing on AI, hardware devices, IoT and robots — in a move to expand our presence in the smart home industry," Song Dae-hyun, president at LG Electronics' home appliance and air systems business, told a press conference in Berlin on Saturday, on the sidelines of Europe's largest electronics fair.

"Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will stand at the center of our plan to grow the smart home business," he said. "We will take a close look at such companies as retail players or those with unique technologies." .....  '