- LG closes its smartphone business.
- The company announced the official announcement today.
- It will still be providing software updates for its phones for some time, which will vary by region.
LG Electronics has officially announced what rumors have been predicted for some time. The company is closing its wireless operations worldwide based on a decision approved by the Board of Directors on April 5th.
In a press release confirming the exit from the smartphone space, LG said its decision will allow the company to focus resources on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business to -to focus on business solutions as well as platforms and services. “
LG’s current inventory of cell phones already on the market will continue to be offered for sale. The company will continue to provide software updates for its phones “for a period of time that will vary by region”.
The company has not specified what the fate of their rollable phone or the device known as the LG Rainbow will be. We assume that given the latest developments, these will not come onto the market.
LG’s smartphone business has suffered consecutive losses for some time. Last year, the brand shipped 23 million phones, compared to 256 million shipped by local competitor Samsung, according to Counterpoint Research.
The company reportedly even tried to sell the mobile division to Vietnamese Vingroup JSC and German Volkswagen AG. However, those talks reportedly failed, forcing the company to pull out of the loss-making company.
“In the future, LG will continue to use its mobile know-how and develop mobility-related technologies such as 6G in order to further strengthen its competitiveness in other business areas. Core technologies developed in LG’s two decades of mobile business operations will be retained and applied to existing and future products, ”LG said in today’s announcement.
The company expects to close its smartphone business in full by July 31st. However, the inventory of some existing models should still be available afterwards.
