Samsung, LG aim to fuel 2021 growth engine

Seoul: South Korea's two electronics giants Samsung Electronics and LG on Monday vowed to foster their future growth engines in 2021 as they unveiled New Year's goals amid the pandemic. Samsung, the world's largest smartphone and TV vendor, said it aims to actively cope with social and economic changes induced by the Covid-19 pandemic so that 2021 can be the year that provides a platform for its future growth.

"The transition to the era of data and intelligence is accelerating with the rise of new technologies and businesses," Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam, who leads the company's chip business, said in the company's New Year kickoff meeting held online.

"Let's foster our new growth sectors systemically and look out 10 years into the future."

Samsung, also the world's top memory chip producer, has been trying to boost its competitiveness in the foundry business in recent years and develop its next-generation quantum-dot display solutions. The company has been also seeking to expand its presence in future mobility businesses. Kim added that Samsung will also improve its corporate social responsibility, saying it needs to better develop sustainable management of the firm.

Samsung last year launched an independent compliance committee to promote a law-abiding culture at the company, reports Yonhap news agency. LG, a major home appliance maker, said its business strategy for 2021 is based on customer value and that it needs to advance its business portfolio with quality growth.

"To achieve our task, it is very important to change how we work and think," LG Electronics CEO Kwon Bong-seok said in an email message sent to its employees. "We need to systemically prepare our future businesses that can create fandom of LG."