LG Elec signs 5G vehicle connectivity deal in Europe

LG Electronics Inc. has signed a deal on 5G vehicle connectivity with a European premium carmaker as the South Korean company is expanding its market share in the global automotive electronics industry.

LG said on Monday that it has won an order to supply 5G telematics solutions to the automaker, although it did not provide details on the client including its name.

The global home appliance giant is set to provide an over-the-air (OTA) technology that updates vehicle software online, a high-precision positioning technology that reduces the error range of vehicle location information, and a 5G vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology used for information on traffic conditions and pedestrians.

NO. 1 IN MARKET SHARE, NO. 2 FOR PATENTS

LG is cementing its world’s top position in the world’s telematics markets, industry sources said. The company was the No. 1 player in the sector with a market share of 24.1% as of the third quarter of 2021. It has also secured a competitive advantage in 5G standards, accounting for about 10% of global 5G standard patent approvals and ranked second globally after China’s Huawei Technologies Co, according to LG.

The global telematics market is expected to grow to $7 billion by 2026, according to Strategy Analytics. The market research firm forecast that about 67 million new vehicles worldwide will be equipped with telematics systems. Further, 5G telematics communications modules, introduced only last year, are predicted to account for more than 25% of the total vehicle telematics market by 2026.

LG started its research and development on telematics, based on 5G with Intel Corp., in 2016. The South Korean company agreed to cooperate on the development of the next-generation connected car solutions with Qualcomm Technologies Inc. in 2017.

Last year, it said it was developing 5G connected car platforms with the US tech giant.

Write to Sin-Young Park at nyusos@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.