South Korea’s LG Electronics Co. having ended the last quarter with the first operating loss in six years will focus on strengthening smart wireless applications in home appliances and robotics to stay in the mobile device competition and make up for the money-losing mobile phone business, said Jo Seong-jin, chief executive officer and vice chairman of LG Electronics on Saturday.

“We did not get the desired outcome despite heavy marketing spending and investment (in phone division),” he said in the first press conference as new head of the company on the sidelines of the CES 2017 trade show.

The Korean consumer electronics giant reported an operating loss of 35.3 billion won ($29.8 million) for the fourth quarter ended December mainly due to struggling smartphone business. Its TV sales also suffered from deteriorated profitability with display panel price hike.

He expected the smartphone business that lost money for almost two years will do better next year through changes in the product lineup.

“It is hard to catch up once you lag in the mobile sector. We will make product true to its basics,” he said.

“There are few producers that make money from robotics and Internet of Things at current stage, but they are necessary investment. We are looking into all the options of mergers and acquisitions, open innovation, and direct investment to strengthen the field,” he said.

The company hopes to reap profit from intelligent home appliances such as home-cleaning and grass-mowing robots.

LG Electronics released Hub Robot for home assistance connected to home appliances as well as lighting and security system through Wi-Fi for multi-tasking. On the industrial field, it would deploy Airport Guide Robot offering boarding and assistances as well as escort services at Incheon International Airport in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

By Song Sung-hoon

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