LG is considering leaving the smartphone market in 2021. After losing about $ 4.5 billion over the past five years, LG’s smartphone business has struggled to compete with rivals. Now, LG CEO Kwon Bong-seok has notified employees that the company is considering making major changes to its smartphone business.
The Korea Herald reports that Kwon Bong-seok sent an internal memo to the team on Wednesday, suggesting a change in the direction of the LG phone business. “Since competition in the global mobile device market is getting tougher, it is time for LG to make a cold judgment and the best choice,” an LG employee said in a statement to The Korea Herald. “The company is considering all possible measures, including selling, withdrawing and reducing the size of the smartphone business.”
LG confirmed that the internal memorandum was genuine in a statement to The Verge, noting that nothing has yet been decided. “LG Electronics’ management is committed to making any decision necessary to solve its mobile business challenges in 2021,” said a spokesman for LG. “To date, nothing has been finalized.”
This new internal memo follows a report now excluded from the Korean outlet TheElec earlier this month, which claimed that LG was planning to exit the smartphone business. LG classified this report as “completely false and without merit” in a statement to Android Police just a week ago.
LG had already promised “surprising factors” to try to attract consumers and make its declining mobile division profitable. LG tried several times with the G7, V40, G8 and V50 to compete with Samsung and Huawei, but it was not enough to push its market share in the right direction. LG’s latest Velvet and Wing smartphones tried something new, but none were well received.
Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and Apple continue to dominate smartphone shipments worldwide, according to IDC. LG is now turning its focus to its Rollable phone, in an effort to differentiate it from the competition. LG teased the Rollable device again at the Consumer Electronics Show last week, with a “unique resizable screen” that extends from a phone to become a small tablet screen.
LG has promised that its Rollable device is real and will be launched in 2021, but with the company reconsidering its mobile plans, it could be one of the last LG phones we will see.