Confirmed: LG exits mobile phone business worldwide

LG, Monday, confirmed they are closing smartphone business. TechEconomy.ng had reported the moves my LG to step away as a Phone manufacturing and sales enabled company to focus on growth sectors like Internet of Things (IoT) and Business to Business (B2B) solutions.

The parent company – LG Electronics – was established in 1958 and has since led the way into the advanced digital era thanks to the technological expertise acquired by manufacturing many home appliances such as Air Conditioners, radios and TVs.

However, the smartphone has struggled to maintain prominence in the competitive mobile market.

In a public announcement, LG Electronics Inc. (LG) announced that it is closing its mobile business unit as the decision was approved by its board of directors earlier on Monday.

The statement reads:

“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.

“The wind down of the mobile phone business is expected to be completed by July 31 although inventory of some existing models may still be available after that”.

LG was once the third-largest handset manufacturer globally. In 2009, just before the smartphone market started taking off, LG sold nearly 120 million feature phones.

In 2010, the company entered the smartphone market in earnest with the launch of Android-based smartphone Optimus. However, this entry came relatively later than Apple and Samsung’s, according to this report.