[The Editors' Verdict] Fight, Samsung and LG, for the Future of Korea's Economy

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These days, CEOs of large corporations rarely meet with reporters. The last time the CEOs of major affiliates of the four largest conglomerates gave interviews was 8 to 9 years ago. However, it used to be different. Many CEOs were friendly with journalists. A representative figure who maintained a good relationship with the media was former Vice Chairman Yoon Boo-keun, who made Samsung the undisputed world No. 1 TV manufacturer. He was always kind to reporters.

But around 2009, he spoke seriously. The gist was, "Your junior reporter is excellent. But all the other reporters are problematic." The actual words were much harsher. I asked a junior why such a story came up. The answer was that it was because of LG Electronics, the world’s No. 2 TV manufacturer. LG held a press conference and announced a TV thinner than Samsung’s. Reporters wrote exactly that. However, that friend thought Samsung’s TV looked thinner.

To be precise, the TV LG released had the thinnest part thinner than Samsung’s product. But the thickest part was thinner on Samsung’s TV. So that reporter wrote that LG released a TV with the thinnest part thinner than Samsung’s TV. It was a time when the two companies fought fiercely over which TV was thinner. To win, both companies spared no effort. Slight bending of the truth or distortion of facts was common.

The winner was Samsung Electronics. In 2009, it launched the world’s first LED TV, and in 2010, the world’s first 3D TV, completely dominating the global TV market. But LG did not just take it lying down. In 2013, LG released the world’s first OLED TV. Samsung also released an OLED TV that year. A fierce technical debate ensued over which company’s technology was superior. However, Samsung stopped releasing OLED TVs from 2015. It withdrew from the market. From this point, the growling rivalry between Samsung and LG began to fade. It is hard to believe there was a time when they held daily press conferences boasting about their products and technologies while disparaging each other behind the scenes. Samsung said, "We are now on a different level from LG," while LG said that after fighting, they could not handle Samsung’s overwhelming marketing volume.

But recently, the situation has changed again. Samsung Electronics is making OLED TVs again. Just three years ago, Samsung Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee said, "We will never make OLED TVs." The reason for changing his mind was that they succeeded in "technological improvement." Samsung chose practicality over pride. There was also a showdown in the hot secondary battery market these days. At the ‘Next Generation Battery Seminar’ held on the 12th, Samsung SDI announced that it would mass-produce solid-state batteries, called the dream battery, from 2027. At the same event, LG Energy Solution stated, "Commercialization of solid-state batteries will be difficult even by 2030," and that the market will move mainly around lithium-ion batteries for the time being. LG Energy Solution is a strong player in the lithium-ion battery market. Employees of both companies are probably working day and night on research and development to turn their companies’ announced futures into reality. They might even be constantly badmouthing their competitors with ridiculous remarks.

However, to grow, one needs a formidable rival. Before Korean companies, the strongest in the global TV market was Japan’s Sony. The background behind Samsung and LG surpassing Sony was the presence of ‘petty and mean’ domestic competitors in Korea. After fierce internal competition, Sony, when faced, was weaker than expected. I hope our companies engage in fierce internal competition again. That is one of the sources of competitiveness for Korean companies.

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