LG Calls it Quits, To Close Mobile Phone Business
by Andrei Frumusanu on April 5, 2021 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mobile
- LG
- Smartphones
This morning, LG issued a press release that announced the board of directors had decided to close down the conglomerate’s mobile phone business. The news is unfortunate, however isn’t too surprising given the mobile division had been accruing continuous operational losses over the last 6 years, greatly denting the company’s financials.
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.
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.
LG had been one of the major mobile pioneers in the feature phone market, and also a larger player in the early 2010’s with many notable earlier successes such as the LG G2 or the G3.
Unfortunately in the following years, the company had been struck hard by chains of hardware disadvantages, ranging from the Snapdragon 810/808 generation in the G4, a failed attempt at hardware modularity in the G5. LG had also suffered issues over several generations in their OLED display attempts, plagued by lower quality panels with image quality issues, or power efficiency deficits compared to other alternatives in the market who used Samsung Display OLED panels.
At one point, LG had plans to deploy their own in-house design “Nuclun” SoCs into their mobile devices, announcing their partnership with Intel Custom Foundry to produce a leading-edge design on Intel’s 10nm process node. Unfortunately, the project burned to the ground along with Intel’s 10nm struggles, with the chips never seeing the light of day.
LG’s latest device attempts in the form of the V60 and the VELVET were actually greater leaps for the company’s designs as well as executions, however all coming too late, with a continuing problem of availability of the devices, as LG still ran with an availability model of working closely with carriers and releasing devices only in markets where carriers decided they were interested in supporting that device.
The company will be winding down its mobile business through July 31st, refocusing its resources into other divisions of the conglomerate.
Source: LG Press Release
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TheinsanegamerN - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
The success of the thicker, heavier moto power series would say you are wrong.Why do people always insist that 19:9 and 20:9 phones that dont fit in pockets are perfect for everyone? Some of us would like a phone closer to nexus 5 size.
Kamen Rider Blade - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
That's a very small market. Apple proved that the audience really isn't there for small Nexust 5 size phones.Oxford Guy - Tuesday, April 6, 2021 - link
I was satisfied with the size of the iPhone 5.RSAUser - Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - link
What many forget is that usually smaller phone users want it because they don't like the size and usually do not consume as much media. This means they are less likely to use it as a status symbol or think they need a better phone since the new thing has a feature/improvement they want.This means that that segment is probably a lot slower to upgrade and most likely most of those phone users are still on old, smaller iPhones with a home button.
My brother for example bought the S10e instead of the S10, not because he can't afford the S10, but because he loved how small the S10e was as it fit nicely into his pocked even while hiking or rock climbing.
ads295 - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
All I suggested was that they could have tried.Personally I own a chunky yet small-ish phone (Samsung Galaxy M01) and I'm loving the small yet dense weight of it. Feels solid.
grant3 - Friday, April 9, 2021 - link
I don't think anyone seriously suggests that small phones would be a "breakthrough" in the market. The market had small phones as standard for many years and then decided to spent its money on larger phones instead.Some people (a minority of the market) just want smaller phones. Does it matter why they want it?
kmmatney - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
Apple sort of tried that with the iPhone mini, and it is not selling well. While I like the idea of a small phone, I would never buy one. The iPhone 11 or XR are small enough, while still giving a nice usable screen. and lower cost. The iphone 12 is smaller still and OLED.grant3 - Friday, April 9, 2021 - link
My understanding is that only Sony is seriously attempting to make a flagship small(er) factor phone.Everyone else is selling their smaller devices as discount devices, forcing a rough tradeoff between power/features, and small size.
SarahKerrigan - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
"At one point, LG had plans to deploy their own in-house design “Nuclun” SoCs into their mobile devices, announcing their partnership with Intel Custom Foundry to produce a leading-edge design on Intel’s 10nm process node. Unfortunately, the project burned to the ground along with Intel’s 10nm struggles, with the chips never seeing the light of day."Are you sure Nuclun2 was intended to be 10nm? Rumors had pretty consistently suggested it was going to be on Intel's 14nm node, which also lines up well with the timeline it was being worked on.
Arsenica - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
The linked 2016 PR mentions that:"LG Electronics will produce a world-class mobile platform based on Intel Custom Foundry’s 10 nm design platform. We’re pleased to welcome them as a customer."