It’s the end of an era as LG Electronics is officially shutting down its mobile division as per the decision by its board of directors on April 5.
LG issued a press release confirming its exit from the smartphone business, which they say “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 also said that the current phones in the market will continue to go on sale, while software updates will be provided to its phones “for a period of time which will vary by region.”
The company didn’t mention anything about how it’ll take its rollable phone or its upcoming device dubbed LG Rainbow forward. However, by the looks of what’s happening, we think these won’t see the light of the day.
LG’s smartphone business has come in constant scrutiny for a while now as it has been facing losses after losses. Last year, the firm shipped 23 million phones in comparison to 256 million shipped by Samsung, another Korean firm, according to Counterpoint Research.
As per reports, the company even tried selling the mobile division to Vietnam-based Vingroup JSC and Germany’s Volkswagen AG. However, the deals reportedly fell off, forcing the firm to shut down the division.
“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,” LG stated in its announcement today.
The company is expected to scrap off its smartphone business completely by July 31, though its existing model might still be on sale after that.
