Fifth Consecutive Visit to CES Since 2018
"Business in the U.S. Will Remain Strong Even Under Trump"
Urges Executives and Employees to "Integrate with AI"
Gu Ja-eun, Chairman of LS, said on the 9th (local time), "Seeing the Chinese companies closely chasing us makes me feel we need to be more desperate."
On the same day, Chairman Gu met with reporters at CES 2025, the world's largest information technology (IT) and consumer electronics exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, and said, "We used to produce electricity and wires in protected areas with less competition, but seeing the fierce consumer electronics companies and startups at CES made me think that we may have lacked desperation until now."
Chairman Gu visits CES every year to observe technology trends. Except for the COVID period, this is his fifth visit since 2018.
This year, after touring the Eureka Pavilion where startups gathered the day before, Chairman Gu visited booths of Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Chinese companies Hisense and TCL, and Japanese Panasonic on the morning of the event. About 20 executives and employees, including Myung Noh-hyun, Vice Chairman of LS, and chief strategy officers (CSOs) of affiliates, accompanied him.
When asked about "the most memorable companies at this event," he said, "I saw TCL and Hisense and thought how much they have grown compared to 20 years ago," adding, "Looking at China, I can imagine how agonizing it must be for Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics every day."
Chairman Gu showed particular interest in artificial intelligence (AI) technology at the exhibition halls he visited that day.
He emphasized, "Now, it seems that AI and software, not hardware, will dominate the world," and added, "It will be important how we integrate AI into our production, purchasing, and quality processes, and we need to develop software that suits us."
He also instructed the executives and employees who attended CES with him, saying, "This year's CES can be defined as MAGA (Make All Great with AI)," and "We will ensure that LS's products and solutions can be linked with AI technology."
Regarding a reporter's question about the inauguration of the second Trump administration, he said, "I don't really care whether it's Trump or anyone else," and added, "The wire business in the U.S. market will continue to improve, and the entire group will do well."
Recently, LS's U.S. subsidiary Essex Solutions successfully secured pre-IPO (pre-initial public offering) investment. LS Cable also invested $682.75 million in July last year in its U.S. submarine business subsidiary LS Greenlink and is set to start construction of a factory in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Regarding this year's performance outlook, Chairman Gu explained, "The economy itself is very bad, but I expect it to be similar to or slightly better than last year."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
