LG Electronics

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LG Electronics
Elji Jeonja
엘지전자
Type Public
Founded 1958
Headquarters Flag of South Korea Seoul, South Korea
Key people Yong Nam, Vice Chairman & CEO
Industry Mobile Communication, Digital Display, Digital Appliance and Digital Media
Revenue $68.8 billion USD
Employees 82,772 (29,948 in Korea/ 52,824 overseas) - as of 2006
Parent LG Group
Website LG Electronics Worldwide
LG Electronics
Hangul LG전자

LG Electronics (LGE, Korean: 엘지전자 Elji Chŏncha) (KRX: 066570, LSE: LGLD) is the world's second-biggest maker of televisions [1] and third-biggest maker of mobile phones.[2]

With its headquarters in the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea, LG Electronics is the flagship company of LG Group, one of the world's largest conglomerates.

The company has 75 subsidiaries worldwide that design and manufacture televisions, home appliances, and telecommunications devices. LG Electronics owns Zenith Electronics and controls 37.9 percent of LG Display.

Contents

[edit] Summary

By 2005, LG was a Top 100 global brand, and in 2006, LG recorded a brand growth of 14%.[3] Now the world's largest plasma panel manufacturer,[4] its affiliate, LG Display, is one of the largest manufacturers of liquid crystal displays. Also in 2006, the company's mobile phone division, LG Mobile, marketed the LG Chocolate phone, changing the company's image of the maker of thick 3G phones. It now focuses on the design and marketing of phones such as the LG Shine, the LG Glimmer and LG Prada (KE850). As a result, the company was picked as "The Design Team of the Year" by the Red Dot Design Award in 2006~2007 and is often called the "New Apple" in the industry and online communities.

Billboards at Dundas Square in Toronto, Canada, featuring an LG advertisement.

[edit] Company history

The company was originally established in 1958 as GoldStar, producing radios, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners.[5] The LG Group was a merger of two Korean companies, Lucky (from the Korean "Nakhui") and GoldStar, from which the abbreviation of LG was derived. The current "Life's Good" slogan is a backronym. Before the corporate name change to LG, household products were sold under the brand name of Lucky, while electronic products were sold under the brand name of GoldStar (Hangul:금성).

In 1994 GoldStar gained sponsorship from The 3DO Company to make the first 3DO Interactive multiplayer. In 1995, GoldStar was renamed LG Electronics, and acquired Zenith Electronics of the United States. LG Solar Energy is a subsidiary formed in 2007 to allow LG Chem to supply polysilicon to LG Electronics for production of solar cells. In 2008, LG took its first dive into the solar-panel manufacturing pool, as it announced a preliminary deal to form a joint venture with Conergy. Under the deal, set to be completed by year's end, LG would acquire a 75 percent stake in Conergy's Frankfurt solar-panel plant.[6] LG has produced camcorders called ARTCAM and DSLRs [7]

[edit] Sponsorship

LG Electronics sponsored the English football club Leicester City and Weyside Rovers (Guildford) from 2000 until 2002. LG Electronics currently sponsors the English football clubs Fulham F.C and Arsenal FC, deals pulled together at that time by the ex-Marketing Director John Bernard, who now works for the competition, Sony Ericsson. LG also sponsor the Fremantle Football Club (an Australian Football League team) and the Australian National Rugby League club Cronulla Sharks.

During the period 2001-2003 the company sponsored the snooker Grand Prix. During these years the tournament was known as the LG Cup.

LG now also sponsors London Fashion Week and the LG Arena in Birmingham.[8]

In 2008 LG became sponsors of the Extreme Sport 'FSO4 Freeze' festival[9] and in January 2009 LG became a Global Partner and Technology Partner of Formula One.[10]

[edit] Awards/Accolades

In 2008, LG won 11 reddot Design Awards, 11 iF Design Awards, and 13 Innovation Awards at CES, where the 50-inch PG6000 1080p Plasma HDTV was “Best of Video Display.”

In 2009 LG has won 14 design & Technology honors at CES including the CES 'Best of Innovations' in the Wireless Communications Category for LG Dare(VX9700) and Home Appliances Category for Steam Laundry Pair:SteamWasher with Allergiene Cycle and SteamDryer(WM3001H).

7 2009 products have been awarded with iF Design Awards and another 7 received reddot Design Awards.

[edit] Business divisions

Mobile communications

LG Electronics is the world's third largest handset maker.

Digital appliance

The home appliance division makes products like refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines. Its 2007 sales totaled KRW 11.8 trillion, accounting for 29% of the company's total revenue. The division's profit was KRW 717.1 billion. About 35% of the company's home appliance revenue comes from the North American market.[11]

Digital display

Plasma TVs, LCD TVs, Micro Display Panel TVs, Monitors, PDP Modules, OLED Panels, USB Memory, Flat Panel Computer Monitors

Digital media

Home Theater Systems, Blu-ray Disc players, DVD Recorders, Super Multi DVD Rewriters, CD±RW, Notebook PCs, Desktop PCs, PDAs, PDA Phones, MP3 Players, New Karaoke Systems, Car Infotainment

LG mobile devices are made for GSM networks as well as for CDMA networks worldwide. LG phones are available also in unlocked versions that can be used on any GSM network worldwide and not just for a specific carrier's network.[12]

[edit] Energy Star controversies

In 2006, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced 5 models of LG air conditioners posted misleading energy ratings, following complaints by the Australian Greenhouse Office. Tests concluded that the affected models had their actual cooling outputs 90% lower than rated outputs, energy consumptions of some models were more than the rated power consumptions, and the energy efficiency ratings of the affected models were lower than that claimed by LG, and that of one model was lower than that required by the relevant Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS). As a result, LG offered $3.1 million rebates for the affected models.[13]

In 2008, U.S. Department of Energy announced the removal of Energy Star labels from certain brands of LG refrigerators. The move also affected Kenmore TRIO models designed by and manufactured by LG Electronics.[14] The discrepancy was traced back to the Energy Star testing procedure, that allowed manufacturers to test the refrigerators with their ice-makers turned off, which is not how they are normally used in the home.[citation needed] Furthermore, the DOE claimed LG did not set the refrigerators' temperature-controllable compartments to their coldest levels, a requirement for energy-usage measurements.[15]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Samsung, LG Boost Global TV Market Share". http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200902/200902200020.html. Retrieved on 20/02/09. 
  2. ^ "Bloomberg.com". http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aT_pKU7ulaoA. Retrieved on 23/01/09. 
  3. ^ [1][dead link]
  4. ^ "LG UK". Uk.lge.com. http://uk.lge.com/ir/html/ABboards.do?action=read&group_code=AB&list_code=PRE_MENU&seq=5458&page=1&target=pressreleases_read.jsp. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  5. ^ "LG corporate history webpage". Lge.com. http://www.lge.com/about/corporate/history.jsp. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  6. ^ "LG Plots Solar Partnership With Conergy". Greentech Media. http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/lg-plots-solar-partnership-with-conergy-1395.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  7. ^ "카페정보". http://imagesearch.naver.com/search.naver?where=idetail&rev=5&query=LG%20%C4%B7%C4%DA%B4%F5&from=image&ac=-1&sort=0&res_fr=0&res_to=0&merge=0&spq=0&start=52&a=pho_l&f=tab&r=22&u=http%3A%2F%2Fcafe.naver.com%2Fjoonggonara%2F23943849&thumbnail=http%3A%2F%2Fthumbview02.search.naver.com%2Fthumbnails%3Fq%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fcafefiles.naver.net%2Fdata36%2F2009%2F4%2F20%2F263%2F6_bojdmswl.jpg&signature=892850106545&gdid=90000004_00995A62016D5AA900000000. 
  8. ^ "London’s first ever snow and music festival strengthens LG’s corporate sponsorship portfolio". Prlog.org. http://www.prlog.org/10129577-londons-first-ever-snow-and-music-festival-strengthens-lgs-corporate-sponsorship-portfolio.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  9. ^ "FSO4 Freeze, Sponsored by LG, Snowboard and Music Festival". Londonfreeze.com. http://www.londonfreeze.com/index.php. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  10. ^ "The Official Formula 1 Website". Formula1.com. 2008-11-26. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/11/8739.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  11. ^ "LG Electronics sees strong home product sales despite U.S. woes". Marketwatch.com. 2008-03-20. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/lg-electronics-sees-strong-home/story.aspx?guid=%7B92C23299-5061-46FA-AA17-A15063A7BB4F%7D. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  12. ^ "Unlocked GSM mobile phones". Bigtimewireless.com. http://www.bigtimewireless.com/. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  13. ^ "LG compensates consumers over misleading energy ratings". Accc.gov.au. http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/763524/fromItemId/142. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  14. ^ "ENERGY STAR Fridge Deal A Victory for Consumers". Greenpatentblog.com. 2008-12-20. http://greenpatentblog.com/2008/12/20/lg-doe-energy-star-fridge-deal-a-victory-for-consumers/. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 
  15. ^ "Energy Star Labels Stripped from Five Fridge Models". Treehugger.com. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/energy-star-labels-stripped-from-lg-refrigerators.php. Retrieved on 2009-06-10. 

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