These days ads and subscription services seem to be seeping into every nook and cranny of the digital space. At least we were safe from those annoyances when using our appliances. But even that safe haven may be gone once LG starts enacting its new business strategy.
As part of an initiative to increase global annual revenue from $51 billion to almost $79 billion by 2030, LG plans to explore advertising and subscription opportunities for its TVs and home appliances. According to The Verge, LG CEO William Cho announced that the company intends to become a “smart life solution company.” The tech giant reportedly wants to accomplish this mission by diversifying its business portfolio and creating a business centered around “customer engagement.
LG’s new growth strategy will reportedly come in the form of a “platform-based service business model that continuously generates profits, such as content and services, subscriptions, and solutions.” The first product that will transition LG into its initiative will be its TVs, which is expected to happen sometime before the end of the year. This will result in a change to webOS, the company’s TV operating software, which will allow LG to expand “content, services, and advertisements,” across its products.
However, LG isn’t limiting this to just its own TVs; it’s also looking to expand this new version of webOS to external TV brands. In addition, the firm also wants webOS to appear on other non-TV LG products in the next five years.
As for subscriptions, it appears the company has ThinQ UP in its sights. According to the press release, “The goal is to further evolve LG ThinQ UP appliances that upgrade functions customers need even after purchase and evolve into a “Home as a Service” platform that combines hyper-personalization, subscriptions and smart home services.”
LG believes this strategy will help the company continue to grow. But it remains to be seen how customers will react to these changes.
