SEOUL (Reuters) – Fans of LG Electronics smartphones have praised the loss of more affordable Android devices after the South Korean technology company said on Monday it would shut down the company, praising LG for the innovation it brought to the industry.
LG smartphone users in South Korea and the United States posted nostalgic tributes on social media after the company announced the exit, citing a prolonged drop in sales. LG still has a share of about 10% of the US smartphone market, even though the global pie share is only 2%, according to researcher Counterpoint.
“Release the rollable phone before you die,” said a user on a 300,000-member forum on Naver, South Korea’s largest online search portal, referring to LG’s latest expandable display here concept that the company showed off at the CES show. in January. .
Fans happily took note of some of the company’s more unique designs, such as a T-shaped dual screen, as well as features such as a double tap to turn a screen on and off.
“LG has the best audio hardware of any phone,” Kim Dong-Woon, who has used six LG smartphones, told Reuters. “It is a pity that LG is withdrawing.”
Influential American tech critics echoed the sentiments.
“LG was never perfect, but in a world of boring records, they’ve delivered some of the most unique phone designs, ideas and features ever,” said YouTuber Austin Evans here on Twitter.
LG, which has been making mobile phones for about a quarter of a century, eventually lagged rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, partly due to lackluster marketing and slow software updates.
The smartphone division recorded nearly six years of losses, amounting to about $ 4.5 billion at the end of last year.
Despite all the fandom, some criticized the phones, saying the shutdown was inevitable.
“The writing has been hanging on the wall for a long time … things haven’t improved,” cdegallo said on Reddit.
Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang in Seoul; Additional reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh