Largest booth among Korean firms at IFA 2026
'LG Cloid' conducts AI orchestra
AI agent ThinQ Claw enhances interaction
About 70% of European customers have small kitchens — Fit&Max offers a fix
Energy-efficient dishwasher launches in UK this month
Visitors stepping into LG Electronics' booth at IFA 2026 — Europe's largest consumer electronics fair, which opened Friday — are greeted by a dazzling performance: home robot LG Cloid conducting an orchestra of 31 household appliances, including TVs, washing machines and dishwashers, each lighting up and showcasing its features in time with the robot's baton.
A day before the official opening, the booth made clear that LG Electronics has shifted its focus from highlighting individual product features to demonstrating the integrated solutions that control them — a showcase of how its "AI Home" vision translates into everyday life.
LG Electronics set up the largest booth among the roughly 60 South Korean companies at IFA 2026, occupying 3,745 square meters, underscoring its standing as a global home appliance powerhouse. The company said the AI Orchestra at the booth entrance serves as a symbol of its AI Home vision.
Throughout the exhibition space, visitors can experience interactions powered by ThinQ On, LG Electronics' AI Home hub. A highlight this year is ThinQ Claw, a newly introduced AI agent feature built into ThinQ On that goes beyond simple conversation to support multimodal inputs such as photos and tables. ThinQ Claw can also receive commands through messenger apps such as KakaoTalk and Telegram.
For example, syncing a travel itinerary with ThinQ Claw automatically activates power-saving mode on connected appliances while the user is away. Users can also send their estimated arrival time via a messenger app, and the system will adjust the home's temperature and humidity accordingly.
Alongside AI Home, "built-in" is the other defining theme of LG Electronics' booth. To target Europe — the world's largest built-in appliance market — the company created a dedicated Fit&Max zone showcasing solutions designed to minimize the gap between appliances and surrounding cabinetry.
Built-in kitchens have been mainstream in Europe since the 1920s, and European consumers — many of whom live in older homes and historic city centers with limited living space — place a premium on how efficiently appliances use that space. LG Electronics is targeting the European market with products that overcome spatial constraints without sacrificing performance.
Koo Ji-young, LG Electronics' vice president of kitchen solution customer experience, said 69 percent of European customers have kitchens measuring between 10 and 20 square meters. "The key challenge was figuring out how to install a large French-door refrigerator in such a small kitchen," she said. French-door refrigerators have been growing at an average annual rate of 18 percent, making it essential to remove barriers to wider adoption.
The Fit&Max refrigerator can be installed with as little as 4 millimeters of clearance on either side, made possible by a zero-clearance hinge technology that mounts the hinge inside the cabinet, allowing the door to open up to 110 degrees even in tight spaces.
LG Electronics first applied the Fit&Max brand to its refrigerators last year and this year extended it to dishwashers and laundry appliances. The company said it invested considerable effort in developing products that resolve space constraints while maintaining high performance.
LG Electronics also set up an Energy Leadership zone to highlight the energy efficiency that European consumers prize. Europe is one of the world's most competitive markets for high-efficiency appliances, a trend that has intensified since the Russia-Ukraine war disrupted energy supplies across the continent. Abnormally high temperatures in recent years have further heightened awareness of climate change.
At IFA 2026, LG Electronics drew attention both by unveiling its most efficient products to date and by applying high-efficiency technology across a broader range of its lineup. The company secured Europe's top energy rating — an A rating — even for its French-door refrigerators, which lose more cold air when opened due to their wide double-door design. It also showcased a washing machine that cuts energy consumption by an additional 70 percent compared with other A-rated models.
Particularly notable is a new dishwasher that reduces energy use by an additional 30 percent beyond the top rating. LG Electronics will launch it in the UK this month and plans to expand sales globally in early next year. The new dishwasher line secures an A rating even in its mid- and lower-priced models, reinforcing a high-efficiency image across the entire brand.
jeongwan@heraldcorp.com
