Voice recognition support in LG’s home appliance range is currently available only in U.S., Germany, U.K., Korea, Canada and Australia
LG Electronics (LG) has said that it will aggressively expand its voice recognition-enabled smart home appliances this year. The Korea-based ACE company is expecting two dozen markets to be on board by the start of the second quarter. The company said that it is planning to expand voice recognition support to its home appliance products to 21 countries by April.
“Our aggressive strategy and drive for excellence will bring voice-enabled AI to more homes this year than any other manufacturer and this is something we are immensely proud of,” said Song Dae-hyun, president of LG Electronics Home Appliance and Air Solution Company.
The curious case of smart speakers
It is worth mentioning here that more and more brands are introducing IoT or smart features in their range of consumer electronics. A recent survey by IHS Market had claimed smart speaker penetration to be more than 20 per cent in India. The survey had also highlighted the fact that more than 13 percent of internet users had access to a smart speaker in their households in November 2018. Smart speaker penetration ranged from six percent in Japan to 21 percent in the United States.
Smart speakers are a vertical of consumer electronics that users generally invest in to control all the connected devices inside their homes. The same survey, had claimed a smart speaker’s ability to be integrated with other devices, as its most important feature. 27 per cent respondents had voted for this ability as the most important feature in a smart speaker.
The role of Google and Amazon
LG said that it will continue working with valued AI partners Google and Amazon. Working with the duo, as per the brand, will help deliver more integration to LG customers.
An official statement by the company read, “Through Google Home and Amazon Alexa, LG will expand voice recognition support of its home appliance products to 21 countries by April, beyond the current six markets.”
LG’s current lineup of smart home appliances includes washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, air purifiers and stylers. The company said, “Using conversational voice commands, users can effortlessly control their LG appliances and monitor their operation for the ultimate in smart home convenience.”
Song Dae-hyun added, “We look forward to giving our valued customers around the world the chance to experience next-level ease and convenience when using their LG appliances.”
