LG Electronics is one of the most recognised names in the world of technology. When you consider just how many products the company specialises in, it’s not really surprising just how much reach it has. The company not only specialises in TVs, but also appliances, like fridges and washing machines, and, in its native Korea, even cosmetics goods!
But how did the LG company manage to have its fingers in so many pies? How did it become a world leader not only in the TV industry but also in countless others?
The Reliant tech experts have over 60 years of experience in the world of technology, and in that time, we’ve witnessed as the company has gone from strength to strength. So, using all of that experience, we’ve decided to put together the ultimate historic deep-dive. We’ll take you through every significant milestone to trace the unique evolutionary path of one of the world’s best-recognised companies!
The Very Beginning
LG as we know it today actually operated under a very different name. Created by founder Koo In-hwoi in 1947, Lak Hui Chemical Industries was a company that first specialised in cosmetics, before soon expanding into plastic production. This company immediately proved immensely successful and expanded over the next few years.
Koo In-hwoi, following the success of his first business venture, decided to establish a second business, known as GoldStar Co. Ltd. This company was dedicated entirely to the production of electronics, including some of Korea’s first radios and TVs.
The first company created by LG founder Koo In-hwoi was actually a cosmetics business. The company would later merge with In-hwoi’s other company to form the “LG” that we know today.
What makes these two companies special is that they would eventually merge together in 1983, to create the “Lucky-Goldstar” company. This was created by combining both company’s names. However, this newly-merged company would soon be better known as “LG”!
But what happened in the years before the all-important merge? How did LG originally go from selling cosmetics to TVs and radios? Let’s take a closer look!
1947 – Lak Hui Chemical
It’s interesting to consider the history of LG because the company did not originally start under the now-recognised name. Instead, the beginning of the company can largely be linked to the founding of Lak Hui Chemical in 1947. This original company, founded by Koo In-hwoi, was dedicated entirely to cosmetics. The first product released by the company was a skin cream known as “Lucky Cream”.
Lak Hui (pronounced as “Lucky”) proved immediately successful across Korea. In no time, the company began producing a much wider range of cosmetic products, including toothpaste, soap, and laundry detergents. Over time, Lak Hui would cement itself as one of Korea’s top cosmetics companies. In fact, Lak Hui proved so influential in the early days of LG’s history that LG still produces a number of cosmetics goods in LG to this day! These are now released under the “LG Chem” name.
The founding of the Lak Hui company can be pointed to as one of the earliest events in LG’s history. Before LG as we know it today had any involvement with technology, it started as a cosmetics company!
Over time, Lak Hui expanded operations, and the company opened more and more plants across the country. Motivated by this success, Koo In-hwoi decided to open up his second company, under the name of “GoldStar Co. Ltd.”. This would signal LG’s first foray into the world of electronics!
Getting Started In Electronics
1958 – GoldStar Co. Ltd.
GoldStar was first established in 1958, in the wake of the Korean War, which had raged only years prior. Electronics were beginning to boom across the world, and seeing an opportunity, Koo In-hwoi would quickly jump on board this new business frontier. The company proved immediately successful, partly because of government backing that placed an emphasis on domestically-produced products. This meant that GoldStar immediately had an advantage in Korea’s blossoming electronics market.
Part of the company’s success can be linked to the release of Korea’s very first radio in November of 1959. This radio, produced under the GoldStar name, would sell incredibly well, and would really get the ball rolling at the company.
In 1958, the GoldStar company was established. The electronics-focused company was immediately successful because it focused on delivering domestically-produced products. This was incredibly important in strengthening the nation in the wake of the Korean War!
In the years following, GoldStar would create some of the country’s top electronic products, such as fans, more radios, and even Korea’s first automatic telephone. By 1965, GoldStar had produced Korea’s first-ever domestic fridge! Over the decades, LG fridges would be improved and iterated on, leading to the appliances we know and love to this day. In 1969, the company released its first washing machines, which quickly became a success across Korea.
1966 – LG’s First Television
Nowadays, LG is one of the first names that come to mind when many of us think of high-end TVs. LG is now the top manufacturer of OLED displays across the world, netting them a significant corner of the market. The path to becoming the world’s top TV company was not straightforward, however!
LG first started its journey into the world of TV in 1966, with the release of its first-ever TV. This TV had a black-and-white display that measured at around 19 inches. Though it might pale in comparison to some of the gargantuan displays now on the market, this large screen offered a fantastic view to users at the time.
LG released its first TV in 1966. This early model had a black-and-white display at around 19 inches in size. In the following years, LG’s TVs would prove immensely successful. Leading to the company we recognise today.
In the same year, LG, still operating under the GoldStar name, began to make a sizable expansion into the West. At that point, the company had already started selling a number of products internationally. These products proved successful very quickly and established GoldStar as a recognisable name.
By October of 1966, GoldStar had achieved more than 1 million US dollars in revenue from international sales.
Domestically, it wasn’t just GoldStar that was making a name for itself. At the same time, Lak Hui continued to be very popular. The company not only continued to sell its famous skin cream products but also expanded its offerings. In fact, Lak Hui also created the country’s first-ever shampoo! By 1972, Lak Hui had generated over 10 billion Won in Korea alone.
1979 – LG’s First Colour Televisions
Over the 1970s, GoldStar was able to generate consistent profits as a result of the success of its TVs and radios. In fact, by 1976, the company had already broken records after selling more than a million TV units. TV sales would continue to steadily climb over the years until the company was selling millions of units every year.
By the late 1970s, colour televisions were already booming across the world. GoldStar decided to enter this new market with the introduction of the company’s first colour screens. These were initially targeted at an international market exclusively. This is because colour television would only become available in Korea towards the late 1980s.
Colour televisions first began to take over from black-and-white models in the 1970s. However, it wouldn’t be until around 1977 that GoldStar would start producing colour TVs! This is because there were no colour broadcasts in Korea at the time!
Despite the manufacturing of TVs experiencing such a boom, television content production in the country was experiencing something of a slump.
1982 – LG Expands Further
With international sales booming, GoldStar decided to expand its manufacturing enterprises overseas. The early 1980s saw the company opening a number of overseas plants and production facilities.
One of the most significant of these was the opening of a colour TV factory in Alabama, USA. With GoldStar colour TVs now being manufactured within the West itself, sales only continued to improve further.
LG Adopts Its New Name
1983 – A New Name For A Brighter Future
Both the GoldStar and Lak Hui Chemical names continued to be used for a number of decades after both companies were established. But, in order to help focus the efforts of the company, and to drive greater sales, the decision was made to merge both of the companies in 1983.
This allowed the newly formed Lucky Goldstar to place a greater focus on the production of electronics. The new name was particularly significant because it could be abbreviated to the now-iconic “LG”. However, it would actually be some time before the company would start using “LG” as its main name.
In 1983, both Lak Hui and GoldStar were merged together to create Lucky GoldStar. However, it wasn’t until 1995 that the commonly-recognised “LG” abbreviation would be used by the company across the world.
Until 1995, the company continued to sell products under both the Lak Hui and GoldStar names. However, that same year, the company made the decision to use the LG name to refer to all business operations, including within the worlds of electronics and cosmetics.
The 1990s – LG Approaches The Future
The 1990s saw the LG company change in a number of ways. Not only did the company officially change its name to “LG”, but it also expanded its operations even farther ashore! Countless factories were built around the world, to help speed up the production of LG products.
LG also established a number of subsidiary companies, to expand into some of the smaller markets within the world of technology. One of the most important of these was the foundation of LG Telecom. LG Telecom would soon be responsible for producing some of the company’s top mobile phones and smartphones.
1995 – The Acquisition Of Zenith
Keen to expand the success of the company even further overseas, LG made the choice to acquire the Zenith company. Zenith had, for the longest time, been one of the leading television manufacturers in the United States. Some of the most successful early TV models were created by the company.
In 1995, LG Electronics acquired the Zenith company. This US-based TV manufacturer helped to massively speed up the company’s productivity, to allow LG to create more top-selling TVs for the ever-expanding market.
However, during the 1980s, Zenith began to report declining profits and were slowly facing bankruptcy. In 1995, LG officially acquired Zenith.
The acquisition of Zenith allowed LG to massively expand its TV-production output. Soon, the company would vastly exceed its previous record of 1 million units every year. Very quickly, the LG TV empire that we know today was beginning to pick up the pace!
Thinner Screens And HD Resolutions
1998 – Larger TVs For A Larger Audience
In 1998, LG generated waves across the TV industry with the introduction of the world’s first 60-inch plasma TV screen. At the time, TV screens of this size were simply unheard of. LG customers were floored by the potential of this device. Its sheer screen size had the potential to bring the cinematic experience right into the home. Plasma screens were also significantly skinnier than the boxy cathode-ray TVs the company had already produced.
However, although the TV was visually impressive, and offered an, until-then, unseen sense of scale, it wasn’t quite ready for the market.
What made this TV particularly special was the fact that it was developed alongside Philips. The two companies actually created a joint venture with the explicit purpose of creating LCD displays for TVs. Though the two may now be business rivals, this immense collaboration led to some significant developments in the world of TV tech.
In 1998, LG Electronics and Philips collaborated on a joint venture to produce LCD displays for modern flat-screen TVs. This joint venture eventually led to the development of the LG Display subsidiary still responsible for modern LG TVs!
The collaboration also led to the creation of the “LG Display” subsidiary. This subsidiary is still very significant in the history of the company because it is responsible for manufacturing all LG LCD and OLED displays.
LG Display is also responsible for providing much of the display technology found in some of Sony’s top TV models. LG Display also created the screens used within Apple’s iPhone 14 range of smartphones.
2004 – The Arrival Of HD
Plasma display technology allowed new TVs to achieve screen sizes previously unseen. But, in order to make these larger screens look truly great, the next step for manufacturers like LG was to create some of the first Full HD TVs.
In 2004, LG brought to the market one of its first Full HD TVs, which had an immense 55-inch screen size. Because the TV was so quick to the market, it instantly sent shockwaves through the industry. This is because it was, at the time, the biggest screen around. In fact, it was one of the first commercially available TVs to exceed 50 inches in size.
The exact same year, LG also showed off its first 71-inch TV, again with a full HD resolution, and plasma display technology.
2006 – Screens Keep Growing
While LG was busying itself with revolutionising the television market, the LG Philips LCD subsidiary set about pushing the limits even further. This led to the development of one of the first LCD TVs to ever pass the 100 inch mark.
In 2006, LG showed off its in-development 100 inch TV. This screen boasted millions of pixels, and even the ability to recreate billions of unique colours. However, these screens were expensive to operate, thanks in part to plasma display technology.
The TV boasted an immense 6.2 million pixels and was capable of recreating billions of unique colours. This made it also one of the best TVs around. However, because of the limitations of LCD technology at the time, the TV only had a 3000-to-1 contrast ratio. This meant that the TV had trouble replicating true black values or depicting finer details in darker images. This was a limitation that would slowly be overcome with the development of OLED technology. However, it would still be a few years before OLED would change the industry.
While the 100 inch TV certainly turned heads, it wasn’t yet commercially viable. In fact, it would be quite a few years before TVs of such a size would reach the mainstream! Nowadays, some of the largest LG TVs on the market are 98 inch TVs. These TVs have truly expansive screens, but because of advancements in display technology, they are much skinnier. This makes them easy to situate in any space, despite their size.
2010 – A Short Stint With 3D
By the 2010s, the TV industry had changed quite a bit. TVs had become much thinner, and much more lightweight, and screens had become bigger. Now, consumers could truly replicate a cinematic experience right from the comfort of the living room.
In an attempt to make TV screens even more cinematic, many manufacturers set out to create TVs capable of displaying images in 3D. 3D films proved immensely successful throughout much of the early 2010s, so, seeing the potential, LG set about creating some of its first 3D screens.
LG’s 3D TVs initially sold very well, thanks to the hype generated by the blockbuster 3D films of the time. However, this success would prove very short-lived. Over the years, sales of LG 3D TVs began to steadily decline.
LG’s 3D TVs were initially successful in the early 2010s. However, as the years passed, these same 3D TVs began to sell less and less. Ultimately, the 3D TV craze would prove to be very short-lived.
The downfall of 3D TVs can generally be linked to expensive costs. 3D TVs were incredibly expensive to purchase. They were often even more expensive than non-3D TVs with much larger screens.
3D TVs were also somewhat of a hassle to use. For many, there wasn’t enough of an incentive to pay for such an expensive TV.
2011 – UHD Inch Screens And OLED Technology
2011 would prove to be a milestone year for LG Electronics. In that year, the company showed off the world’s first UHD 84 inch TVs. These made use of a 4K screen resolution, which had until then been totally unseen. 4K is now largely the industry standard resolution, so it can sometimes be tough to understand just how significant the leap from 1080p to 4K was. 1080p TVs boast four times the pixel count of standard Full-HD TVs. This means that they offer immense clarity.
These UHD TVs didn’t take off immediately, because there wasn’t much content to take full advantage of the resolution. With time, film and TV studios would begin investing in 4K content production. The arrival of 4K content incentivised consumers to invest in 4K TVs. In the years since their introduction, 4K TVs have become incredibly popular.
The company also showed off its first OLED TV screens at various tech shows and industry events. Though they would not be released to the market until 2013, the arrival of OLED screens signalled a significant shift in the industry. OLED TVs make use of self-illuminating display pixels. These pixels can not only render images but also produce their own light. This meant that there was no need for a backlight on OLED TVs.
OLED TVs set a new standard for the industry. Because of their self-illuminating pixels, OLED TVs are much thinner and use less electricity. They also display images with much greater accuracy, sharper contrast, and more realistic colour.
LG’s OLED TVs accounted for every potential shortcoming of the plasma TVs that came before them. They have near-infinite contrast and use only a fraction of electricity.
2011 – Smart TVs For Intelligent Viewing
2011 also brought with it the arrival of smart TVs. These intelligent displays can connect directly to the internet, to give users direct access to a range of online entertainment. However, LG’s history with net-enabled TVs actually dates back a little further.
In 2007, the company released its first online-compatible TV models that provided users with access to a limited range of online platforms such as YouTube, and Netflix. The platform also came with a very rudimentary browser that allowed users to interface with the web. These early online TVs were very barebones and were often prone to error.
In 2011, LG renamed its net-enabled TVs to Smart TVs. These intelligent displays not only had fantastic screens, but gave users the opportunity to stream a massive library of online content.
In 2011, LG rebranded this range of TVs to the now-recognised “Smart TVs”.These smart TVs would be continually updated and iterated on with every new TV model release. This allowed them to operate more efficiently, and offer access to a wider range of streaming platforms.
2014 – The Introduction Of WebOS
All LG TVs released from 2015 and onwards now include some version of the WebOS operating system. This new operating system, unlike LG’s original proprietary system, was much more robust and made it much easier for LG to provide consistent bug fixes via online updates.
WebOS was first developed as an open-source operating system for use with mobile phones, PCs, and other smart devices. However, in 2014, the platform was fully acquired by LG Electronics and put into direct application in the company’s smart TVs.
LG WebOS is still used in all of the company’s major TV models to this day. The most recognisable feature of LG WebOS TVs is the inclusion of the ribbon interface. This puts all of the most popular control options into a simple ribbon that users can scroll through. The ribbon interface makes it easy to navigate through all of the options offered by LG smart TVs.
Within the first year since LG WebOS TVs entered the market, more than 5 million had already been sold. Every year since LG’s WebOS TVs have proved to be some of the most popular on the market!
2014 – Flexible TV Screens
The introduction of OLED LG TVs had a significant impact on the television industry, but ever keen to innovate, LG set out to make their OLED screens more exciting. In 2014, LG developed the world’s first flexible OLED screen. This immense screen was fully malleable, and yet still delivered a solid and consistent image.
LG has only since released a small number of flexible TVs. These can be fully rolled up and stored away when out of use. This makes them very convenient for small homes that are short on space. However, these rollable TVs are only available in limited numbers and currently have a hefty price tag. It remains to be seen whether rollable TVs will enter the mass market!
2018 – 8K Makes Its Arrival
4K LG TVs really made a splash upon their release thanks to their immense resolution. However, in 2018, LG set out to make an even bigger splash with the release of the company’s first 8K TVs,
8K LG TVs boast 2 times the number of pixels as 4K displays, which makes them great for HDR film.
LG’s 8K TVs haven’t yet made a splash to the same degree as the 4K TVs that came before them. However, 8K upscaling technologies have helped the TVs to sell more than ever before.
However, despite the company’s expectations, 8K has fared slightly worse than 4K. This is because there simply isn’t much 8K content out there to take advantage of the screen resolution.
8K LG TVs now include automatic upscaling technologies that improve 4K images, so that they appear natively 8K. This technology has helped to improve sales, but not significantly so!
2023 – 10 Years Of OLED Brilliance
Staying at the top of the ultra-competitive TV market is an achievement unto itself. LG released its first-ever OLED screens in 2013, and every year since, the company has remained at the top of the market. When it comes to OLED displays, with their immense contrast and colour depth, LG still stands out as the name most people recognise.
In 2023, LG celebrated its ten-year market lead with a range of new and exciting OLED TV screens.
LG also finished up the year with a bang, thanks to the introduction of the world’s first wireless OLED TV. Though LG’s wireless OLED TVs have yet to enter the mass market, they could totally change the way in which we design our living rooms!
LG Moving Into The Future
Research And Development
LG now has a number of special research and development facilities across the world. It’s thanks to these facilities that the company was able to develop technologies like fully flexible screens.
Recently, the LG Display subsidiary showed off the world’s first stretchable display. This screen is not only fully flexible but is also totally malleable. This makes it highly durable, while still offering a fantastic image fidelity.
AI And TV
LG has already developed a number of AI technologies that have been put to use in some of the company’s smart devices. These AI programs can deliver a more personalised experience, by analysing user habits, to then provide recommendations. For instance, if the AI notices that you watch a lot of comedy films, it will recommend new titles on streaming services that you’re signed up for!
LG TVs already make use of AI to provide catered content recommendations to users. It’s likely that this Ai technology will be improved and implemented further in future LG smart TV models.
It’s likely that as AI continues to improve, the TV experience will get even more personalised. This will make it easier for users to keep themselves entertained for hours. It will also make it easier for films and TV shows to find their target audiences without having to spend countless millions of pounds on marketing!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Did LG Change Their Name?
The LG company changed its name when both Lak Hui Chemical and GoldStar merged together to create Lucky Goldstar. This new company specialised in both electronic goods and cosmetic goods. When abbreviated, the Lucky Goldstar name reads as “LG”. However, it would take until 1995 for the company to fully adopt the “LG” name.
