According to LG Electronics Global Communications Director Ken Hong brand loyalty is not important as it used to be but instead ‘what is latest and affordable/FILE
For example, Blackberry Limited has faced intense competition especially from Apple and Google which has seen its personal consumer market reduce to 1.2 percent in June 2015.
In Kenya, Eveready has had to close its plant in Nakuru following a huge drop in use of batteries especially in home appliances.
At the weekend, I visited LG Electronics Headquarters in Korea, the fourth largest company in the Asian country, and despite its magnitude, pressure to innovate fast and smart remains its focus.
According to LG Electronics Global Communications Director Ken Hong brand loyalty is not important as it used to be but instead ‘what is latest and affordable.’
This, he says is especially in the television and mobile phone market.
“In this industry, nothing is forever. You cannot go with one technology, say of TV for more than three years. Same to mobile phones. We never stop to innovate. You cannot afford not to,” he says as he makes a presentation about LG’s history.
In 2014, LG Electronics Global sales stool at $55 billion.
Despite the growth, Hong says the profit margins remained tight hence the need to keep creating and seeking new business avenues.
“Even smart people, don’t know what the future holds. You cannot keep doing one thing forever ,”Hong says as he displays some of the products the company plans to launch in 2016.
Apart from innovation, investing in employees also remains key focus despite “the challenging environment.”
“Our employees are our priority number one. Even in bad economic times, jobs layoffs is the last option. They are the companies. And this applies to a lot of Korean companies,” he says.
Some of the products by LG Electronics includes mobile phones, television sets, home appliances like refrigerators and washing machines among others.
LG Electronics is under LG Corp, a group which has 63 companies.
