8 hours Ago By David Richards
LG Electronics who arch rival Samsung believe that they can beat in the OLED market after only entering the market three years ago, appear to be more interested in selling TVs so that they can get access to confidential consumer data according to their latest financials. Last year, LG generated A$2.2 billion from subscription and sale of data service, making up about 20 percent of the company’s revenue.
In their latest filings the Company admits that subscription services, and the sale of webOS-based sourced data, coupled with the expansion of their own advertising onto LG TV’s even before you get to a TV program, as well as direct-to-consumer sales contributed to the company’s latest sales growth. In their preliminary earnings results for the first quarter of 2025, the Company that their global revenue came in at US$15.5 billion which was up 7.
2%, profits fell 5.7% as the Company struggled in the TV display market. One of the big contributors was their commitment to grow direct sales and subscriptions and growth in demand for their premium appliances.
Currently the Companies Signature range of appliances are not sold in Australia. “Despite the continued uncertainty in the business environment, such as the economic downturn, we achieved stable growth in our existing core business, in areas such as B2B, subscriptions, webOS-based services and direct-to-consumer business,” LG said in a statement. Ironically, LG failed to reveal TV and appliance sales numbers, but they did spruik their commercial HVAC business.
The Company and their third party sales agents who are selling the data capture via their WebOS smart TV engine, to advertising and marketing Companies has claimed that they can tell how consumers are most likely to vote. LG has not said who will win the Federal Election in Australia. The company went out of the way to highlight LG’s expansion of their subscription services which they claimed attributed to sales growth.
These services and LG’s commitment to funding new direct sell operations is seen as a major blow to retailers in Australia who sell LG products. Last year, LG generated A$2.2 billion in its subscription service, making up about 20 percent of the company’s revenue.
LG plans to introduce these subscription services to new markets this year, the Company has not said whether Australia and New Zealand are among the Counties that could eventually get a subscription service. In their media and entertainment solution business, from this year, LG is integrating its display-based businesses – including TVs, IT (laptops, monitors) and ID (commercial displays) – to generate synergy in its webOS-based advertising and content platform, traditionally centred around smart TVs with the Company looking to sell commercially generated data to third parties. LG’s 2025 TV lineup introduced enhanced AI features such as personalised content recommendations in an effort to compete with Samsung who are stripping share away from LG in the OLED TV market.
In the last quarter LG’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) business began operating as an independent Company with the business claiming that the division is contributing to overall profitability. In the residential market, LG plans to maintain its leadership with AI-powered innovations, recently LG acquired an 80% stake in Athom, a Dutch smart home company, with plans to acquire the remaining 20% within the next three years. This move aims to enhance LG’s connectivity within open smart home ecosystems a move that will allow them to capture more data on what consumers do in their homes.
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