LG Electronics is going to hold ‘Establishment of G5 Smartphone Ecosystem’ in Seoul on the 17th of March, and this event is ‘LG Friends Developer Event’ that Director (President) Cho Jun-ho of Mobile Communications (MC) Business Headquarters announced at MWC 2016. This event is made to attract domestic and foreign personal, startup, and small and venture companies with abilities to LG ecosystem. LG Electronics is going to embrace all related industries such as government, IT, broadcasting and others.
According to LG and Ministry of Science, ICP and Future Planning (MSIP) on the 25th, LG Electronics and SBS are going to hold ‘Play with Friends DEV Concert’ at DMC Nuridream Square that is located in Sangam-dong on the 17th. This is a developer event to expand LG’s premium Smartphone called ‘G5’ and an accessory product called ‘LG Friends’. LG Electronics is going to invite first 300 people from its homepage (onoffmix.com/event/63038) by the 12th of March.
There are no limitations in participating. Regardless of hardware (HW) and software (SW), any developers, planners, and designers that are interested in G5 and LG Friends can participate in this event. There are also no limitations in status as any personal, startup, and small and venture companies can participate. LG Electronics is going to open this event to anyone who is willing to participate in G5 ecosystem. LG Electronics is also going to invite representatives of its partners that had participated in developing LG Friends and deliver them the know-how of cooperative development.
LG Electronics is also going to introduce detailed strategies regarding virtual reality (VR). LG Electronics and SBS are going to introduce hardware and manufacturing technology of contents respectively. Based on this event, LG Electronics is going to give shape to its cooperation with SBS on development and expansion of VR contents. Vice-chairman Yun Seok-min of SBS Media Holdings visited MWC and tried to understand the current trends of next-generation contents technologies including VR also.
MSIP, National Information Society Agency (NIA), and National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) are going to support LG Electronics and SBS by sponsoring this event and through other things. It is rare that a public sector is sponsoring private business’s event. South Korean Government’s intention in actively participating with its policies while having already made an announcement about its investments and easing of regulations to have VR and games as its next driving forces has been applied in its sponsorships.
With G5 as a starting point, LG Electronics is going to create its own Smartphone ecosystem that is based on ‘cooperation’. As part of this cooperation, Friends is going to establish ecosystem that enables LG Electronics and its partners to grow at the same time. LG Electronics is going to open its global network to its partners.
LG Friends is also going to introduce next model of V10 that is expected to be released in second half of this year and next model of G5 and others. It is going to make LG’s Smartphones as ‘Portable Hubs’ by expanding Smartphones to games and drones in the future. During a survey, which was held in MWC 2016, that asks which LG Friend’s products does one want to purchase the most, Portable DAC Module Hi-Fi Plus took the number 1 position as 29% of people had voted for it. Followed by Portable DAC Module Hi-Fi Plus was HMD 360 VR, 360 CAM, CAM Plus, and Rolling Bot.
This kind of act is different from Samsung Electronics’ strategy that focuses on cooperation with huge global businesses. To establish VR ecosystem based on Galaxy S7, Samsung Electronics has partnered up with Facebook. However LG Electronics is going to look for partners regardless of countries or size of businesses. “This indicates that LG Electronics is going to test innovation by using strengths of module-type that is able to be converged with variety of HW”. said a representative for this industry about LG Electronics’ move.
High-ranking representatives of MC Business Headquarters are going to attend this event and are planning to discuss about G5 and LG Friends. LG Electronics has named this event as ‘DEV Concert’ and is going to become the host for this event while G5 and Friends are going to become ‘Friends That Are Playing’.
“Because module-type accessories including LG Friends are able to be applied to variety of accessories, not only they can establish an ecosystem but also can create new profits for Smartphone businesses.” said Ian Fogg who is a chief researcher for IHS in charge of mobiles about LG Electronics’ strategies.
Staff Reporter Seo, Hyeongseok | hsseo@etnews.com