Following weeks of speculation, LG has officially announced plans to quit its mobile phone business unit worldwide. The South Korean company has received the necessary approval from its board of directors and henceforth, focus will shift to the company’s other business aspects which includes AI, connected devices, electric vehicle components, robotics, smart homes, B2B solutions and more.
According to Reuters, LG’s Mobile Phone business has been recorded a total loss of US$ 4.5 Billion for six consecutive years. The company has joined the likes of Blackberry, HTC and Nokia who were once established in the smartphone market but have had to settle for very low or almost non-existent market share in recent years. The market is now headed by fellow South Korean company, Samsung, Apple and Chinese device makers – Huawei, Xiaomi and BBK Electronics (the parent company of OPPO, Realme and Vivo).
LG released the following announcement:
LG’s strategic decision to exit the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector will enable the company to focus resources in growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services. LG will provide service support and software updates for customers of existing mobile products for a period of time which will vary by region. LG will work collaboratively with suppliers and business partners throughout the closure of the mobile phone business. Details related to employment will be determined at the local level.
Moving forward, LG will continue to leverage its mobile expertise and develop mobility-related technologies such as 6G to help further strengthen competitiveness in other business areas. Core technologies developed during the two decades of LG’s mobile business operations will also be retained and applied to existing and future products. The wind down of the mobile phone business is expected to be completed by July 31 although inventory of some existing models may still be available after that.
Source: LG Newsroom
