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Wayne Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics USA, characterized the company’s 2010 North American market growth as “impressive,” saying that last year, the region accounted for 25 percent of LG’s global revenues. He said that LG increased brand awareness to 96 percent, up two percent from 2009, and grew its home appliance, mobile phone and home electronics businesses. For 2011, LG’s goals include strengthening its business competitiveness, establishing a quality-management system, and preparing for future business growth with its largest electronics R&D investment ever: $12 billion, he said.
Meanwhile, the fruits of its most recent R&D endeavors were on display at the press event.
LG has set a sales goal of 40 million flat-panel TVs for 2011, with the mix including SKUs including Smart TVs, 3D TVs, and LED-backlight LCD TVs.
TVs using its new Smart TV platform carry an improved user interface among their principal features. A Home Dashboard is highlighted on the main menu screen, and LG has added a feature called Media Link to ease content sharing which adds metadata automatically. Premium content providers who are partnered with LG in North America now include Hulu and Amazon Video on Demand, and the app store is being added to daily from worldwide developers, said Skott Ahn, president and CTO of LG Electronics.
For sets without built-in Smart TV capability, LG is offering a Smart TV upgrader box to bring the functionality to any TV with an HDMI connection.
LG’s newest 3D sets feature Cinema 3D technology which the company says eliminates flicker and crosstalk; the sets work with newly engineered, lighter glasses that do not require charging. The company expects this new range of 3D sets eventually to account for two-thirds of its 3D TV sales. LG is also bolstering its offerings in premium and mid-range LED TVs, it said.
A range of 3D A/V devices that complement the TV lines was also shown. The products
include the HX996TS, a Real 3D Sound home theater system; the HB906SB, a Blu-ray 3D Disc home theater system; and the BD690, a network Blu-ray 3D Disc player.
Tim Alessi, LG director of new-product development in home entertainment, also showed off the new Magic Motion Remote, a six-button control device that makes it easier for web browsing TV viewers to access premium online content and download and us LG apps.
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