LG quits smartphone market

Korean LG Electronics, once the world’s third largest smartphone producer, is quitting that particular market to focus on other activities.

At a loss

LG’s smartphone division has been bleeding money for years, Belgian newspaper De Standaard reports: losses have accumulated to almost four billion euros since 2015. The company had already announced it was looking at its options last January, but has now decided to put a stop to the onerous division and hopes the divestment will be completed by July. In the last few years, LG’s market share has nosedived from being the third largest producer worldwide to a mere 3 % share.

The electronics company now wants to focus on its other activities, like components for electric vehicles, robotics and artificial intelligence. Still, the company will not fully leave the world of smartphones as it is eager to use its acquired know-how to prepare for the arrival of 6G.

A credible buyer for LG’s smartphone division still has to present itself: Vietnamese Vingroup has been rumoured as being a potential buyer, but the offered sum is said to have been considered unsatisfactory.