LG Mobile close to closure, goodbye to the South Korean smartphone?
Recently, the South Korean company had entered into negotiations to sell its smartphone development division. For some time now the company has seen LG Mobile as a branch that does not bear fruit, on the contrary the losses caused by the mobile division of the brand would amount to about 4.5 billion .
LG, in fact, in the third half of 2020 shipped about 6.5 million smartphones, with a global market share close to 2%, very minimal compared to the importance of LG in other markets. From these considerations the decision to stop producing cell phones, but initially a sale was thought of, but the failure to close the negotiations has prompted the company to turn towards the definitive closure .
As confirmed by the words of Kwon Bong-seok , CEO of LG Electronics, in the statement published by LG:
“As competition in the global mobile device market is becoming increasingly fierce, the time has come for LG to make a cool judgment and figure out which is the best choice for the company. LG is considering all possible measures, including selling, the closure and downsizing of the smartphone business ".
LG Mobile closing? New projects suspended
Words in opposition to what he had declared a few months ago, with LG's desire to specialize in the development of high-end smartphones . It had in fact announced three new smartphones that would follow the release of the innovative LG Wing: LG Rollable, LG Rainbow and LG Q83. All three were due to arrive in the first half of 2021.
“LG Rollable”, LG Wing's successor within the Explore Project, would have been the first “extendable” smartphone, which from its 6.8 inches would reach 7.4 inches. “LG Rainbow”, on the other hand, would have been the first smartphone in the Universal series. Successor to LG Velvet and the V series, with a more traditional design. And finally the "Q83", the next protagonist of the "low" range.
The rumors about the closure and the statement of LG itself join the further news leaked in the last period. According to reports from the Korean newspaper IT Chosun, on February 26 LG should have proceeded with a series of field tests for the brand new LG Rainbow, in view of the marketing that would have been planned for the month of March, but as of today there are still no news.
It would seem that several partners had been informed for this event, but it seems that everything is now at a standstill on the development front, as also confirmed by a spokesperson for LG, according to which the company is reflecting on its future. In fact, even the BOE, a Chinese company engaged in the development of the flexible screen for LG Rollable, seems to have been put on hold, a sign that LG does not have certain information for its future.
Failed sales
The first, and for now the only ones according to the leaked news, to be interested in the purchase of LG Mobile were VinGroup and Volkswagen AG . The German house, which, among others, includes Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and Lamborghini, would have been interested, not so much in the production of smartphones, but in exploiting LG's technologies on board its cars.
Still, leaked rumors stated that VinGroup would be making a rather interesting offer, so much so that the acquisition of LG Mobile seemed imminent. VincGroup represents the third OEM in Vietnam, after Samsung and OPPO and is the same company that produces LG phones as Original Design Manufacturer (ODM).
At this point, the purchase of LG smartphones is increasingly uncertain , as well as the future of the one that represented one of the most innovative companies, together with Xiaomi , and daring in the development of new technologies for mobile telephony. Old buyers are frightened by the possibility that the SW is no longer updated ruining the user experience, and new buyers leave for the same reason. LG is therefore preparing to join the other smartphone companies that have lapsed together with BlackBerry and HTC .
The article LG Mobile close to closing, goodbye to the South Korean smartphone? comes from Tech CuE | Close-up Engineering .