LG Electronics is partnering with global hotel chain Marriott International to develop next-generation smart hotels.
LG Electronics said on Sep. 2 that it will jointly develop a cloud-based platform with Marriott that integrates in-room TV content and guest services. The companies plan to advance the platform to deliver more personalized content and services for hotel guests.
Conventional hotel-room entertainment systems often require individual on-site servers and set-top boxes to be installed and operated at each property. The cloud-based platform, by contrast, will enable remote and centralized management of in-room devices, making content and software updates as well as device-status monitoring more efficient.
Guests will be able to use LG hotel TVs in their rooms to access live broadcasts and over-the-top (OTT) streaming content. The platform will also allow them to control a range of room functions, including temperature and lighting.
Building on their previous collaboration, LG Electronics and Marriott are expanding their partnership beyond the supply of hotel TVs into the platform business. LG Electronics will participate in joint platform development, device management, and technical support for operations.
The companies will initially deploy the new platform at 40 hotels in the United States and Canada, with plans to expand it gradually across Marriott's global hotel brands.
LG Electronics and Marriott expect the collaboration to improve hotel operating efficiency and simplify maintenance, while providing guests with an optimized in-room content experience. Their goal is to set a new standard for the smart hotel sector.
LG Electronics is also expanding beyond hotel TV supply into hotel digital infrastructure spanning in-room entertainment and smart services. The move is seen as part of the company's broader push to strengthen its business-to-business (B2B) operations amid softer demand for consumer TVs.
LG Electronics currently supplies global hotels with high-resolution OLED TVs, its LG Pro:Centric platform optimized for hotel environments, and webOS, the company's proprietary operating system for TVs and displays.
“By combining the differentiated competitiveness of our hotel TV products with cloud technology and the webOS platform, we will continue to introduce innovative total solutions for the smart hotels of the future,” said Min Dong-seon, head of the ID Business Division at LG Electronics' MS Business Unit.
