South Korean electronics giant LG makes products for virtually every imaginable need inside and outside of the home. The list includes TVs, mobile phones, washing machines, fridges, computers, air conditioning systems and PV panels. The firm is also getting into new areas: self-driving cars, electric car motors and batteries, robots that deliver drinks to your armchair – the list goes on and on.

South Korean companies – LG, alongside its competitor Samsung and car manufacturer Hyundai – are grabbing an increasingly large share of the global market for consumer goods. Making headway in this fiercely competitive space requires energy, determination and plenty of investment, which they seem prepared for. For example, unlike many of their Western rivals, Samsung and LG develop products from scratch – both supply Apple with iPhone screens. In a bid to keep ahead of the game LG, has invested an eye-watering £2.7bn in a purpose-built research and development facility on the western edge of the capital Seoul, which – at one million square metres – ranks as one of the world’s largest. 

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