LG will become the first major smartphone maker to completely exit the market, following years of losses and failure to find a buyer.
Once one of the major players in the smartphone market, LG’s smartphone business has lost over $4.5 billion in the last five years. The company signaled that all options were on the table weeks ago, including a sale of the business. Unfortunately, LG was unable to find a buyer, leading it to pull the plug altogether.
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.
The company plans on using its expertise in the mobile phone market to aid its other businesses.
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 will be completed by July 31, although there may still be some units left in the inventory channel after that.