Refer Report

Samsung and LG, which are facing a ‘home appliance recession’, are trying to turn the mood around by leading with artificial intelligence (AI). The plan is to showcase the latest AI home appliances at IFA, the largest home appliance exhibition in Europe, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Attention is being paid to whether they can invigorate the home appliance market in advanced countries, which shows no signs of recovery.

According to the announcements made by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics on the 5th, both companies will participate in the IFA Consumer Electronics Show (IFA) held in Berlin, Germany from the 6th to the 10th (local time) with the theme of artificial intelligence. Samsung’s theme is ‘AI for all,’ and LG’s theme is ‘AI home reimagined with empathic intelligence.’

First, LG Electronics focused on making the entire home ‘AI-ized’. To this end, it applied generative AI to the smart home hub ‘ThinQ On’ for the first time in the industry. The hub is a device that connects various home appliances and devices into an integrated system to manage and control them, and a voice assistant with generative AI is installed here. LG explains that it is superior to general AI voice assistants in terms of the range of conversation, comprehension, and flexibility. For example, if you ask ThinQ On how long it will take to get to work, it will not only tell you the time, but also suggest that you “hurry up because there’s traffic” and call a taxi for you.

Samsung Electronics is also strengthening the artificial intelligence functions of its Bespoke home appliances. It is unveiling for the first time ‘Voice ID’, which recognizes individual voices, and ‘Ambient Sensing’, which identifies the user’s location. Using Voice ID, you can issue commands that reflect an individual’s schedule, interests, and health status. For example, if you ask for a dinner menu recommendation, the device will identify the user’s tendencies and provide a customized answer. Ambient Sensing can be used to activate a screen close to the user. The artificial intelligence voice assistant ‘Bixby’ has been upgraded to understand multiple commands in a single sentence and remember the context of previous conversations.

The market is paying attention to whether the two companies’ strategies that emphasize artificial intelligence will help them turn around their performance. Samsung Electronics’ TV and home appliance division’s operating profit for the second quarter of this year decreased by 34% compared to a year ago. This is because demand from advanced countries is still sluggish and Chinese companies are increasingly pursuing them. LG Electronics is also not doing well. The company’s TV business operating profit rate fell to 2% in the second quarter of this year. This means that they sold 100 won worth of products and made about 2 won.

Berlin/Reporter Jae-yeon Lee jay@hani.co.kr

Source: Korean