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Posted : 2014-09-24 17:06
Updated : 2014-09-24 18:42

LG announces partnership with MS

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella delivers a keynote speech at this year's "Tech Days Korea 2014" conference at the Grand InterContinental Hotel, southern Seoul, Wednesday. / Yonhap

Two technology giants agreed on 'Internet of Things'


By Kim Yoo-chul, Bahk Eun-ji

Microsoft (MS) signed an agreement with LG Electronics Wednesday to broaden their business partnership beyond the mobile segment, according to an LG statement.

The agreement is calling for the two technology companies to jointly develop new business opportunities focusing on the "Internet of Things" (IoT) because both firms agreed that this is the latest technological mega trend.

"LG Electronics signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MS over IoT-related businesses. LG Electronics will closely cooperate with MS to find next businesses," LG said in the statement.

The LG Group of consumer electronics affiliate said its vice chairman and CEO Koo Bon-joon, who is also the brother of LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo, met early Wednesday with MS CEO Satya Nadella in the InterContinental Hotel, southern Seoul.

LG Electronics Chief Technology Officer Ahn Seung-kwon, who is regarded as the right-handed man of the LG CEO and MS Korea CEO James Kim also attended the meeting, LG said.

"Top management at both firms exchanged views over strategies and discussed how to further strengthen partnership in businesses that the two companies are mutually interested in," it continued.

The Korean company said it will release products and services for corporate clients and general consumers using MS-patented cloud computing platforms.

An unnamed LG executive said the firm plans to release several products with MS solutions at next year's technology fair to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Over the last few years, LG has been collaborating with MS in virtual business solutions and 3D gaming consoles that support LG's patented passive 3D technologies on MS' XBOX-360 devices.

The LG-MS meeting came after the MS CEO had a dinner meeting with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the company's mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun and the head of Samsung Future Strategy Office Choi Gee-sung, late Tuesday, at Samsung's main office in Seocho, southern Seoul, for about two hours.

While LG asked MS for substantial support for IoT, Samsung, however, requested its long-time American business partner to level-up the partnership in smartphones and to find common ground for settlements over ongoing patent litigation.

Meanwhile, a recent report by Goldman Sachs, a major U.S.-based investment bank, said the "IoT is the third wave in the development of the Internet."

The report pointed out that the fixed Internet wave that began in the 1990s connected more than 1 billion users to the Internet, while the mobile wave of the last 15 years connected another 2 billion people.

The report suggested that the IoT could connect as many as 28 billion "things" to the Internet by 2020, ranging from watches and baby monitors to cars.

LG is actively pursuing this trend.

"All of the things in the Internet were dedicated devices such as PCs, laptops and mobile designed to help users to communicate and form a network to share information. These benefits of networking and sharing information led to the rapid growth of the Internet. We hope to gain initiatives and believe the expanded partnership with MS will pave the way to achieving the goal," said the LG executive.

But the executive declined to comment on whether or not the two companies agreed to release Windows-powered smartphones or even phablets in the near future.

"It's possible that LG may launch another variant of Windows-operated mobile devices. But this project is subject to change according to market conditions," said the executive.

After the meeting with the LG CEO Koo, the MS CEO Nadella gave a key note speech at a forum in the hotel and vowed to offer more support to Korean software developers to promote its server, cloud computing, tablet and smartphone platforms.



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