In order to create more US-specific products

Aug 4, 2008 07:25 GMT  ·  By

The North American division of LG Electronics has recently announced the opening of a new design center in Union Square, New York. This is actually a relocation of LG's old Design Center from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and it comes in order to strengthen the South Korean company's presence in the US.

For the moment, the New York LG Design Center is not fully operational, but when it is, it will allow the company to create "stylish and innovative products that meet the needs of American consumers". The products include mobile phones, audio systems, flat-screen HDTVs and others.

Talking about the New York Design Center, Michael Ahn, LG Electronics North America's CEO, declared, "LG is committed to delivering style with substance across our product categories, and to do that we must constantly push the boundaries of design. With the relocation and expansion of the design center we are bringing together some of the world's best designers. Through their vision and our holistic product development process we will continue to develop new and innovative products that are refined, trend-setting and contemporary".

The relocation of LG's US Design Center comes after its European one was also relocated, at the end of June, from Milan (Italy) to the UK's capital, London. During the opening of the London Center, LG said that it would release the "first fully European designed" mobile phone in August, hence a "full US deigned phone" might also be launched sometime in the future, coming from the newly established New York Center.

LG is one of the best-sold mobile phone brands across the US and the fourth largest handset producer in the world. The US-specific handsets currently on the market include LG Dare, LG Venus, LG Voyager, LG Chocolate 3 and so on, all of them being commercialized in North America only.