What They Say
LG Business Solutions USA has announced a three year alliance with the Marriott Design Lab for the joint development and testing of technologies and solutions for the hospitality industry. The Marriott Design Lab will provide a proving ground for technology products and services that can be integrated into daily hotel operations. The aim will be to save energy, reduce costs, increase operational efficiency, and encourage customer loyalty.
What We Think
LG, of course, has a long established business in hospitality in the US, having acquired the dominant supplier, Zenith, many years ago and getting the firm’s technology which has migrated to the Pro:Centric technology. It’s a long time since I researched hotel TV, but it was an intriguing business that was as much about money and financial structures as it was about technology and products. It is very hard to dislodge incumbents and while Zenith was dominant in the US, Philips was strong in Europe ‘back in the day’.
LG did very well with the cruise ship business for a long time, but that has been a poor business for the last few years. Only last month, I saw news that a cruise liner being built was being sold for scrap as the firm involved in building it went into bankruptcy earlier this year, but nobody was interested in buying it. (BR)
