LG will follow Samsung’s lead by incorporating NFT technology into its premium televisions

The ability to see, purchase, and even mint NFTs is beginning to permeate popular items from South Korea’s top firms.

At the start of the twenty-second century, several new year’s letters to the public from South Korean firms used one popular term: NFTs (non-fungible tokens). While several CEOs have pledged to make a concerted effort to create NFTs in the next year, South Korea’s biggest firms — Samsung, LG Electronics, and Shinhan Card — have already announced intentions to include the digital token technology.

Samsung Electronics revealed its new range of Smart TVs this week at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the firm claims is a technological breakthrough in television.

“In 2022, Samsung will launch the world’s first TV-based NFT explorer and marketplace aggregator, a game-changing platform that enables you to browse, purchase, and display your favourite art — all in one place,” the company explained, noting that it saw an opportunity in the growing demand for NFTs and a need for a connection between those who purchase and those who view them.

Apart from purchasing and displaying the digital artworks, interested purchasers may also investigate the NFT’s history and blockchain information on the site. Samsung has not specified in detail whether their NFT platform was developed in-house or in collaboration with an external business.

LG Electronics, one of Samsung’s main rivals, held a press conference a day following Samsung’s announcement, during which Park Hyung-se, president of LG’s home entertainment business division, said that the firm “absolutely” aims to adopt NFT technology into its television range. LG Electronics’ newest organic light-emitting diode televisions, Park said, are designed for presenting artworks.

While the potential for Samsung and LG’s television NFT platform may give a new dynamic for displaying digital artworks at home on a par with a gallery, others are wary of the technology’s role as a trading platform.

Chung Seung-mo, a 25-year-old South Korean cryptocurrency investor who is closely following the NFT market, is one of them. “I don’t understand the value of having an NFT trading platform on my television. When it is still cumbersome to browse the internet on what is referred to as a Smart television, I don’t believe purchasing an NFT on TV will be a pleasant experience,” Chung told Forkast.News.

On Twitter, one user remarked, “I simply don’t see their plan; if you’re out and about and see an NFT you like, your first inclination is probably not the TV, since a TV is not mobile,” casting doubt on the practicality of having an NFT platform on a large-screen TV. There seem to be more doubters than fans about the social media platform’s growth.

Samsung and LG Electronics are the two market leaders in the global television business, and their choice to include NFT features in their new television lines may increase the availability of NFTs to families worldwide. Samsung Electronics is the world’s best-selling television maker, with around 30.8 percent of the worldwide market in the third quarter of last year, followed by LG Electronics with 19 percent.

In an interview with Forkast.News, business professor Kim Dae-jong of Sejong University said that Samsung and LG’s new NFT capability would benefit not just the NFT industry, but also the virtual currency market.

Along with electronics makers, a significant participant in South Korea’s financial industry is ramping up development of NFT-related goods. Shinhan Card, a leading credit card company in South Korea, debuted an NFT service on Shinhan pLay, its payment and leisure app, yesterday. The programme, dubbed My NFT, enables Shinhan cardholders to mint NFTs for actual possessions or unforgettable occasions.

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