[The Chosun Ilbo, December 7 2007] Future is Bright for LG Electronics as U.S. Goes Digital

LG Electronics has been described lately as the Qualcomm of the digital TV industry. That's because Qualcomm, a U.S. company, earns a sizable portion of its income from licensing key technologies to mobile phone makers. The Korean electronics giant is expected to do the same with its digital TV receiver technology.

An LG Electronics executive said on Tuesday that the company has started producing digital television set-top boxes (STBs) at its plant in China to be sold in the U.S. next month. Digital STBs convert digital TV broadcast signals to analog for people with analog TVs.

LG Electronics’ move comes as an amendment to a U.S. broadcasting law is expected to provide the company with a huge business opportunity. The law requires that all U.S. TV broadcasts must be digital by February 2009. Digital TVs sales have been soaring this year, and the STB market is likely to pick up steam among people who still own analog TVs.