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| Models pose with LG Electronics' TWINWash washing machines. / Courtesy of LG Electronics |
By Baek Byung-yeul
LG Electronics is seeking to expand into the e-commerce sector in an effort to accelerate the company's digital transformation, the company said Monday.
In a report to the Financial Supervisory Service, the electronics maker announced it will hold a shareholders' meeting on March 26 to decide whether it will add "the objectives of the company is to carry out telemarketing and e-commerce business" as a new clause in its articles of incorporation.
The company expressed its intention to make the change in an effort "to carry forward a new business of selling or mediating consumer goods such as food or detergent used for its home appliances through the LG ThinQ app."
The LG ThinQ app is the firm's artificial intelligence (AI) technology platform, enabling users to remotely control and manage LG devices.
The electronics maker has already been offering digital services for users of its microwave LG DIOS Lightwave Oven in collaboration with food companies. When consumers take photos of microwaveable food products using the ThinQ app, their microwave automatically receives information, such as cooking time, about the product, helping users easily cook their food.
Users of LG's air purifiers and cordless vacuum cleaners are also able to purchase household consumables such as air filters or disposable wipes.
The company denied that it had plans to establish its own e-commerce platform, saying the change in its articles of incorporation aims at helping its appliance consumers purchase goods like laundry supplies more easily.
"What we are pursuing is helping consumers of our appliances easily buy the supplies they need. So the move to change the articles of incorporation doesn't mean that we are going to create an e-commerce platform," an LG official said.
The move is also expected to boost synergy between LG Group affiliates. The group's portfolio has a wide spectrum as LG Electronics produces electronics, LG Uplus provides telecommunications services and LG H&H makes consumable goods.
The shareholders' meeting will also resolve the question of whether to make the company's CEO Kwon Bong-seok and Chief Financial Officer Bae Doo-yong new board members, and whether Baek Yong-ho, LG's incumbent outside director and a professor at Ewha Womans University, will be reelected.
