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Interview with Ken Hong, Global Communications Director for LG Mobile at CES 2017

We caught up with Ken Hong, a Senior Director at LG Mobile, at CES 2017, to talk about the next big thing, LG's preparation for the future, and a lot more!
By
January 11, 2017

We caught up with Ken Hong, the Global Communications Director for LG Mobile, here at CES 2017, and talked about the next big thing in mobile, LG’s preparation for the future, and a whole lot more!

One of the important takeaways from 2016 was that innovation means taking risks. Those risks may not always pan out as hoped, cases in point being Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco, or the fact that the LG G5 may not have attracted consumers as much as they might have expected. It may be hit or miss at times, but that shouldn’t stop OEMs from continuing to take risks and innovate, with a stagnant industry being far worse than one that moves forward despite a few missteps along the way.

To this point, Ken also mentioned that the recall of the Galaxy Note 7 is not something for Samsung’s competition, including LG, to gloat about, but is rather a big loss for the industry as a whole. If anything, something like this should push Samsung, LG and others to do an even better job with their devices, and that can only lead to good things for the consumers.

When it comes to the next big thing, we can expect there to a continued focus on artificial intelligence, deep learning, and the like. We’ve already seen a shift towards this segment from almost every major technology company in the world, and while AI is still in its nascent stages, it is something we can expect to become a bigger part of our lives quite soon.

On speaking about Android and whether LG has any plans to move away from Google’s software, Ken mentions that while there aren’t any immediate plans to do so, it’s all about reacting to the changes in the industry and staying on top of what piques consumer interest. There isn’t any hardware or software that will be the standard forever, and there is always going to be intense competition in this area, and it’s important to react appropriately at that time.

LG is a powerhouse in the consumers electronics market, and while the mobile division has a ways to go, the great news is that LG will continue to innovate and take risks in this department. As mentioned, not all of them may work as expected, but the ability to stay ahead of the curve or even set the standard in this category remains key to future success and growth.

Don’t forget to catch the full interview in the video above, and stay tuned with Android Authority as we continue to bring you more great coverage from CES 2017!