[메트로신문] Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo are actively forming strategic partnerships with global automakers to secure competitiveness in the 'automotive electronics' business, a key future growth area for their groups. In particular, as the automotive industry undergoes rapid electrification and autonomous driving transformations, both the group leaders and management teams of affiliated companies are seeking collaboration opportunities with leading automotive firms to secure market leadership.

According to industry sources on the 1st, Lee Jae-yong’s recent business trip to China included key executives from Samsung’s core businesses, such as semiconductors, batteries, and displays. This trip is aimed at strengthening cooperation with companies in China, the world’s largest electric vehicle market, as Samsung Electronics works to enhance its automotive electronics business. On the 22nd, Lee Jae-yong visited Xiaomi’s factory in Beijing and on the 24th, he visited BYD’s factory in southern Guangdong’s Shenzhen, where he met with top executives.

In particular, after meeting with Samsung executives, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu mentioned that there would be significant changes in the commercialization of autonomous driving technology within the next 2 to 3 years, drawing attention to the potential for building a strong relationship with Samsung Electronics.

China is a strategic market closely tied to Samsung Group's core businesses, including semiconductors, batteries, and displays. Samsung Electronics has been operating a NAND flash memory factory in Xi'an, China, since 2014. Samsung Display has been producing small and medium-sized OLED modules in Tianjin and Dongguan, Guangdong, since 1999 and 2004, respectively. Samsung SDI has been manufacturing small batteries for electric vehicles and small IT devices in Tianjin since 2008, and has been running a prismatic battery factory for electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS) in Xi'an since 2015. Samsung SDI is also preparing for new investments in the near future. Samsung's local sales and operating profit in China have consistently shown an upward trend. According to Samsung Electronics' business report, last year's revenue from China reached 64.9275 trillion won, a 53.9% increase (approximately 22.7 trillion won) compared to the previous year’s 42.2007 trillion won.

On the 27th of last month, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo convened the first executive meeting of the year and emphasized a sense of "urgency" to overcome the challenges of 2025. The chairman is now focusing on aggressively targeting global automakers. LG Group's core affiliates, including its battery, display, and electronic components divisions, are planning to hold exclusive Tech Days for global automakers starting in June.

The heads of each affiliate plan to visit automakers starting with Hyundai Motor and Kia in June, followed by a visit to Honda’s headquarters in Japan in July, where they will showcase their technological capabilities. The delegation will include LG Group Vice Chairman Kwon Bong-seok, LG Electronics President Cho Joo-wan, LG Energy Solution President Kim Dong-myung, LG Display President Jeong Cheol-dong, and LG Innotek CEO Moon Hyuk-soo.

The reason why Samsung and LG, the two major pillars of South Korea's electronics industry, are focusing on the automotive electronics (automotive electronics) market is its immense potential. As global automakers accelerate the shift to electrification and autonomous driving, the automotive electronics market is experiencing rapid growth.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics, the global automotive electronics market, which was valued at $400 billion (approximately 552.48 trillion won) last year, is expected to grow to $700 billion (approximately 966.84 trillion won) by 2028.

An industry insider commented, "The future of automobiles is evolving so quickly that they are almost becoming rolling electronic devices that enable everything in the vehicle. As the digital transformation of cars accelerates, the competition between Samsung and LG in the automotive electronics business will become even more intense."

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