Katarzyna Petru
The end of January 2026 brought the long-awaited specifics from the LG camp. The Korean giant not only defended its leading position but also achieved the highest annual revenue in its history of 89.2 trillion won. This is the second year in a row that the company is pushing the boundaries of its own capabilities, although there have been challenges in terms of profitability.
Huge Growth in Subscription Earnings?
The biggest surprise that this report brings is the success of "hardware" subscription services (a model extremely popular in Asia). If you thought this was just an industry curiosity, the numbers tell a different story. According to the official LG Newsroom, revenues from subscription-based models have increased by 29% and approached the level of 2.5 trillion won. For LG, this is a golden business. Instead of fighting for a customer once every 5-10 years with the sale of a refrigerator, the company earns monthly from service fees, maintenance, and additional features in such a model. It is these stable revenues that have allowed them to cover gaps in weaker quarters.
The report also mentions revenues from the webOS platform in televisions, so one can speculate that, after all, a significant portion of the profits from the subscription model comes from the operating system of LG televisions.
For the uninitiated: Every operating system manufacturer receives a commission for each subscription from streaming platforms (e.g., Netflix, Disney) purchased on their products. LG thus becomes not only a hardware manufacturer but also an intermediary in the world of VOD.
LG Display Back in the Black
According to a report by OLED-info, LG Display closed 2025 with revenue of $18 billion and a net profit of $360 million. This is a significant turnaround, considering that not long ago the company was reporting losses in the billions. How did this happen? LG Display went all in. The share of OLED panels in their revenue skyrocketed to a record 61% (for comparison: in 2020 it was just 32%). The strategic farewell to the production of large LCD panels for televisions in favor of more advanced organic matrices turned out to be a winning move.
Laptops More Important than Televisions?
This is probably the most surprising technical speculation of the year. It turns out that televisions are not today’s “darling” for LG Display. Let’s look at the revenue breakdown according to various industry reports:
IT Panels (laptops, monitors, tablets): approx. 37%
Smartphones and other devices: approx. 36%
TV Panels: approx. 19%
Automotive: approx. 8%
This is a clear signal that the IT segment has become the main driving force for the company. The transition of the computer market to OLED and the popularity of large organic displays in new cars (which we also discussed in the context of Samsung) is a true goldmine for LG Display.
The management of LG Display does not intend to rest on its laurels and announces significant investments in the development of OLED technology in the coming year. It looks like 2026 will be marked by the "oledization" of everything. From our desks to dashboards in cars. However, LG has shown that it can earn not only from glass production but also by being the center of our digital lives, for which we are increasingly willing to pay in the form of a monthly subscription.
Source: LG Newsroom, OLED-info
