LG to expand Google TV lineup

LG Electronics TV chief Kwon Hee-won delivers a keynote speech at the 2013 Digital Cable TV Show on the southern resort island of Jeju, Friday. Courtesy of LG Electronics

Top TV manufacturers to foster UHD TV market

By Kim Yoo-chul

LG Electronics plans to expand its television lineup that uses the Google Android platform as its alliance with the U.S. search giant generates tangible returns, said a senior company executive, Friday.

LG is currently the only company manufacturing TVs with built-in Google software. The company expects sales of its lineup of Google TVs to rise sharply.

“LG is currently selling Google TVs in the United States. As the collaboration has been effective to increase our brand awareness and has been yielding good returns, LG plans to roll out more models in more countries,” the LG executive said at the Digital Cable TV Show on the southern resort island of Jeju.

The executive, who asked not to be identified, said its Google TVs were selling an average of 10,000 units per month in the United States.

“Consumers in Korea will see Google TVs manufactured by LG Electronics in the latter half,” he said. The firm plans to unveil the same models in China following their release in Korea.

Consumers in Korea and China must buy separate set-top boxes to access content provided by Google on their TVs, although the executive said LG Electronics aims to standardize set-top boxes with its TVs in the future.

At a recent internal Google event, LG announced that its Google TV will receive an update to Jelly Bean in the third quarter of this year.

The main improvement promised by the upgrade is access to more apps originally designed to run on phones and tablets.

LG Electronics President and TV chief Kwon Hee-won said the sets will have a “3D Game Changer” that stimulates 3D effects with 2D games.

Creating new ecosystem

At the forum organized by the Korea Cable Television and Telecommunications Association (KCTA), Samsung Electronics, the world’s top TV producer, said it will closely partner with its biggest rival LG Electronics and the local cable TV industry to grow the market for ultra high-definition (UHD) TVs.

Major TV manufacturers are investing in UHD TVs as convergence between software and hardware is pushing consumers to experience more vivid content on brighter and large-sized screens. UHD TVs are four times brighter than TVs that support full HD.

To that end, Samsung struck a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with five local cable channels including C&M and CJ HelloVision to find more content for UHD TVs.

This is the first time that the world’s biggest TV maker Samsung has teamed up with local cable channels to proliferate the UHD TV market.

“We expect more broadcasting services that offer qualified UHD content to come. Samsung won’t hesitate to expand alliances with broadcasting and telecommunications companies,” said Lee Kyung-shik, an executive vice president at Samsung’s visual display division.

While Samsung forecasts cable channels may be able to provide UHD content in about a decade, physical media (Blu-Ray codecs) are likely to be available prior to cable content.

“Streaming media is the more likely candidate that can deliver UHD content at the earliest. Again, Samsung is looking for partners to offer the content in the next couple of years,” said an industry official.

LG president Kwon has sided with Samsung by insisting the government, the broadcasting industry and the content industry should work together to expand content, build broadcasting systems and develop products in order to lead the UHD market.

“The UHD market is a totally different market that hasn’t been seen before. The key phrase is ‘money talks.’ Upon cash flow and the amount of revenue, the level of business partnership is going to be decided,” Kwon said.