LG earmarks $2 billion for research next year

LG Group will step up its research and development expenditure next year in a move to sharpen its competitive edge in flat panel displays, mobile handsets, home appliance and optical storage devices. The group’s management said yesterday that it planned to invest 2.1 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in research and development. That is a 17-percent increase over this year’s budget. One trillion won is earmarked for businesses where the group faces strong domestic and international competition, including plasma display panels, liquid crystal displays and mobile phones; 600 billion won will be spent on developing products in several core businesses such as home appliances, optical storage and digital audio and video equipment. The remainder will be invested in new businesses, including home networking, automobile information systems and future generations of personal computers. “We came to an agreement that having core technologies could allow us to achieve sustainable growth despite the uncertain business environment,” said Paik Woo-hyun, chief technology officer of LG Electronics. LG Electronics began operating a second production line for plasma display panels last month, raising its total production to 65,000 units a month. by Limb Jae-un