As losses continue to rise and billions of dollars seemingly being squandered on unusual phones, the electronics giant, LG, has officially raised a white flag to its weak telephone division.
In a statement, the company announced:
“LG will continue to use its mobile expertise and develop mobility-related technologies, such as 6G, to help further strengthen competitiveness in other business areas.”
For now, LG has said that its current phone inventory is still available for sale and that the existing devices will continue to receive support after sales and software updates “over a period of time that will vary by region.” The company expects the liquidation of its mobile business to be completed by the end of July, although it notes that some LG phones will be able to be sold after that date.
Despite the CEO’s commitment to reversing his fortune by 2021, both LG Velvet and Wing devices have failed to gain public sympathy and be sold in larger quantities. Even a dual-screen phone (and a novelty on the market in the form of a rotatable display) was clearly not enough to encourage consumers to break away from dominant players such as Apple and Samsung.
With a handful of affordable models, OnePlus and Xiaomi continued to take what was left of its market share, which remained at a negligible 1.7 percent in the global phone market.
“Numbers game, not competition in popularity”
“The departure of LG’s brand from the mobile department may disappoint some, but we are in an industry where change and work are in the best interest of employees and shareholders,” said LG’s head of global corporate communications Ken Hong. As other beloved phone brands have shown before us, it’s a numbers game, not a popularity contest. ”
It is clear that LG was not ready to give up its ambitions regarding smartphones without a fight. Last month, the Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo reported that it even led negotiations on the sale of the growing business to the German Volkswagen AG and the Vietnamese Wingroup JSC, but that failed.
According to Nikkei Asia, LG’s inability to boost its smartphone business has been affected at least in part by a global shortage of semiconductors – unlike Samsung’s domestic rival, LG does not produce its own chipsets for smartphones.
