By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
LG Electronics, the world's second-largest flat-screen television maker, can ill afford to lag behind in light-emitting diode (LED) backlit liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions, which is the product of the moment in the consumer electronics industry.
However, the recent struggles of LG Innotek, LG Group's electronics parts maker that provides LED chips and modules to LG Electronics, just might be enough to derail the company's bid for world television supremacy.
LG, one of South Korea's biggest conglomerates, has been pushing to "vertically integrate" its key business units to lower the production costs for LCD televisions with LED backlighting, a premium segment in the television market. And the role of LG Innotek was considered a key part of the puzzle.