After years of repeated rumors and rumblings, the future of LG’s smartphone division has once again come under pressure as LG CEO Kwon Bong-Seok reportedly sent a message to staff on Wednesday suggesting major changes could be coming soon.
After years of lossesWhile the possibility of LG leaving the phone business or selling the smartphone division shouldn’t come as a big surprise, this recent news feels somewhat abrupt less than a week later. LG has introduced a new rollable phone concept at CES 2021.
According to information from the Korea HeraldIn response to Kwon’s report of possible “big changes”, another LG official also explained: “As competition in the global mobile device market intensifies, it is time for LG to make a cold judgment and the best The company is considering all possible measures, including sale, withdrawal and downsizing of the smartphone business. ”
Fortunately, Kwon said that “Regardless of any change in the direction of the smartphone business, employment will be maintained, so don’t worry,” the Korea Herald reported rumors that about 60% of the workforce would be relocated or reassigned to other divisions with LG.
While LG recently managed to reduce losses from its telephone division by outsourcing production of cheaper devices to third-party manufacturers, LG’s mobile division still suffered from a operating loss of $ 124.9 million in Q3 2020.
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The way I see it, LG Mobile’s problems come from a number of different directions. The first is that LG has spent years trying to keep up with its major Korean rival Samsung without having the same level of technology or sales required to support and sustain the development of high-end phones. Plus, LG’s phones have long been saddled with mediocre software and support, with similar efforts Software Upgrade Center with very little effect or benefit to end users. This often meant it would take months or sometimes years for new versions of Android to be pushed to devices.
And while I really like more experimental phones like the LG wing, it often felt like LG spent more time throwing ideas on the wall than trying to build out a wider range of budget and mid-range devices to better compete with devices like Samsung’s more affordable Galaxy A-series phones, those some of the best-selling handsets worldwide in recent years.
In many ways, if LG is to save its smartphone business, it could make sense for LG to pull a page out of Motorola and HMD / Nokia’s Playbook by focusing on hardware and device design while switching to a more standard version of Android rather than that of LG custom skin. This could potentially allow LG to continue to develop devices like the rollable phone concept and release more mid-range devices, while Google has to handle more of the load when it comes to software and OS updates.
Regardless, while it’s still a bit too early to release one for LG’s mobile division, it’s clear that some big changes are on the way.