LG calls it a day in the mobile business; will concentrate on new market ventures

LG has now made it official; that’s it for its smartphone operation. Instead, it will now focus efforts on other growth areas, like EV components, smart homes, AI, and b2b solutions.

The company said in its press statement (see below) that it will continue to sell products until around July 31st and possibly beyond, and also continue to offer hardware and software support for a period of time that will be announced region-by-region.

I for one will miss LG mobiles, although the company had severely cut back in its marketing for the last four or five years (perhaps more) and it has actually been some time since I actually got to see or use a LG product. I was not the only one, and LG products weren’t widely promoted in the retail channel – making it unlikely that the company was ever going to manage high levels of sales.

Even since the ‘boot loop’ issues on the LG G4 and other models, LG’s reputation was somewhat tainted and the company never seemed to recover amongst the online community on various forums, despite coming up with some very innovative products afterwards (and, of course, making sure the boot loop problem never reared its ugly head again).

Had LG continued in 2021, it was due to have its own foldable/rollable device ready to launch.

There’s always a chance we’ll see some of LG’s innovations appear elsewhere in the future, if the company manages to sell off any bits of its business (an attempt to sell the entire division failed).

Press Release

SEOUL, April 5, 2021 — LG Electronics Inc. (LG) announced that it is closing its mobile business unit. The decision was approved by its board of directors earlier today.

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.

Current LG phone inventory will continue to be available for sale. 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.