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Cellphones Businesses

LG Considers Exiting Smartphones In 2021 (theverge.com) 49

Posted by BeauHD from the money-pit dept.
After losing around $4.5 billion over the past five years, LG is considering exiting the smartphone market in 2021. The Verge reports: The Korea Herald reports that [LG CEO Kwon Bong-seok] sent out an internal memo to staff on Wednesday, hinting at a change in direction for LG's phone business. "Since the competition in the global market for mobile devices is getting fiercer, it is about time for LG to make a cold judgment and the best choice," says an LG official in a statement to The Korea Herald. "The company is considering all possible measures, including sale, withdrawal and downsizing of the smartphone business." LG confirmed the internal memo was genuine in a statement to The Verge, noting that nothing has been decided yet. "LG Electronics management is committed to making whatever decision is necessary to resolve its mobile business challenges in 2021," says an LG spokesperson. "As of today, nothing has been finalized."
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LG Considers Exiting Smartphones In 2021 More

LG Considers Exiting Smartphones In 2021

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  • had to send it twice under warranty for them to fix the USB port and now the audio port is bad...

  • In the end it will be Samsung, Apple and cheap (Score:3)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Wednesday January 20, 2021 @04:09PM (#60970348)

    I think in the next few years Samsung will be the only high end smartphone maker left. I wonder if that will change the power dynamic between Samsung and Google much...

    Aside from those two, you'll probably have a sea of much cheaper options with dubious security credentials.

    • Eh, I know they are not available in the US, but Xiaomi is at least as good at the high end as Samsung (or better for me, as switching from Samsung to Xiaomi flagships gave me both better and cheaper phones). They do make industry leading devices (mainly the Mi Mix line), so they are quite competitive - maybe they'll decide to enter the US market at some point. If not, I am sure some other player will come along, it's not that hard to enter the phone market (compared to some other industries).

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by bosef1 ( 208943 )

        I guess it depends on how much you trust a Chinese designed- and -built cellphone. Not to say that other phones are any better, but my trust of Chinese phones is "not at all".

        • What are you afraid they will do to you?

        • By unit sales, Xiaomi is the world's 3rd biggest phone maker after Samsung and Huawei, but ahead of Apple.

          You may not trust them, but plenty of people do. Xiaomi phones are popular in China, India, and Southeast Asia. Each of those is a much bigger market than America.

          Global smartphone sales, Q3-2020 [gartner.com]

          • Here in Australia, we take Washington's lead on national security. ZTE used to have a presence, then Huawei. And after the Huawei storm, major electronics retailer JB hi-fi briefly dabbled in Xiaomi - mysteriously now disappeared from their website.

            if not xiaomi then heaps of other Chinese manufacturers will take up the slack. That same retailer is now selling Realme, Vivo and Oppo.

            The writing has been on the wall for non-Samsung for some time, aside from Nokia-branded HMD and Moto-branded Lenovo.

        • To be clear, Xiaomi is not Huawei or HTC etc. Their high end phones are actually high end and often trend setting. Even Samsung's best camera sensor was co-developped with Xiaomi. If you are talking about spying, I take it as a given that I am tracked and I don't trust American or Korean companies any more than the Chinese. Granted, it would be a different story if I lived in China, especially if I was a dissident/muslim/tibetan/etc, but as a European it's the same to me.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      Over the next bunch of years, Android will fade and straight Linux will dominate. Each of the major manufacturers left, with their own Linux mobile phone distribution, which then leads into other devices, TVs, Notebooks and the last remaining desktops.

      Abandon the phone and you might as well abandon the tech industry, aside from large screen devices, the bigger the better, for a shared view, glasses to do it cheaply, no motion, it does not work for the majority, makes them sea sick.

      After Trumps fucking aroun

  • I had a v30 for a fair while. It wasn't the best phone ever, but it was the only phone on the market at the time that didn't have some unfixable annoyance or other. Only reason I moved from LG was the Pixel 3A had no unfixable annoyances AND a guaranteed update cycle.

    • I really liked my V30, but I was rideshare driving at the time and it ruined the P-OLED display. I knew I shouldn't have gotten an OLED phone, but it was such a good deal and turned out to be fantastic.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jmccue ( 834797 )
      Same here, if I have to get a new cell I would have gotten a LG. I also had a setup issue and they were quite nice to me.

    • Bought a V30 as my new phone at the start of 2019. Still using it now.

      You're right - it was the only phone that didn't have some annoying crap feature and all the features I wanted.

  • Why, after presenting one of the single most popular gadgets at CES, would they start considering ditching the mobile unit? That was a terrible decision! While I don't know what's gonna happen, I think the Rollable (with a better name) could turn everything around for that division. As always, time will tell.

  • but we need competition (Score:3)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Wednesday January 20, 2021 @04:27PM (#60970448) Journal

    I don't personally like their phones, but the industry needs competition. Oligopolies almost always end up sucking in the longer run. I hate to see the choices shrink.

    • There's plenty of competition, it just just all in the sub-$600 space. There's a bit in the sub-$800 space. The expensive phones are iPhones and Samsungs, but I think pressure from the smaller, cheaper manufacturers will keep them honest.

    • I was a fun of Huawei phones but after 2017, the Trump administration in its maniacal quest to cripple Chinese tech industry chased Huawei off the US market.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Tablizer ( 95088 )

        I suspect the Chinese gov't subsidized Huawei phones to gain market share, and perhaps snooping access. Thus, their price and features were unsustainable.

        • You are close and still far. It's their currency devaluation, though I wouldn't be surprised if there are some subsidizes.

          The fact is when your engineering, your manufacturing, and everything else is in China where the rmb is 7 to 1 usd, then everything is cheaper. The living wage in Shanghai is maybe like 20k which is like 3k usd. So one of the most expensive cities in China and you can live as comfortably as the code monkey at Amazon, on a lower converted wage. Likewise those working in manufacturing a

  • Is there something different about LG's approach to mobile products that doomed them beforehand? Or perhaps the market for high end smartphones will not bear more than two or three big players? Could LG's downfall have to do with this company not having access to a full technology stack (including in hose chip design and manufacturing)? I used to like the G-series LG phones, but I hated that they were sold only as carrier-branded versions in the US.

    • LG really didn't make much "high end", most their phones were competing with cheaper chinese brands.

      phones just one division, LG itself is still making serious coin in other electronics, appliances, chemicals, batteries and etc.

  • We know Louis Garneau is in trouble !

  • While it's sad to see any competitor go, I never really liked their phones - particularly their trademark "button on the back" bit. I did use an LG V20 for a while and have bought a few of their cheapo's for my nieces, but overall I've just found Samsung to make better phones.

  • That is one way to kill sales. Support is always ify and confusing when a company quits selling products.

  • They werenâ(TM)t really contributing in any way anyway. They should have either made cheap phones or innovative phones. They did neither. Note I said innovate, not throw stupid ideas on the wall hoping it would stick. The LG wing was a stupid idea.

  • Another sheep manufacturer which only made phablets exactly like all the other sheep manufacturer.

    Instead of leaving the business, how about asking people what they want ?

    - If they want massive, thin phablets that cannot take a fall from 10cm, let alone 2m and which cannot be kept in a bag, let alone a pocket ?

    - Or if they want small, sturdy phones that can take a fall from 2m ( the phone body IS the case ) and which can be safely kept in a back jeans pocket, and which are thick enough to ha

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Another sheep manufacturer which only made phablets exactly like all the other sheep manufacturer.

      Instead of leaving the business, how about asking people what they want ?

      - If they want massive, thin phablets that cannot take a fall from 10cm, let alone 2m and which cannot be kept in a bag, let alone a pocket ?

      - Or if they want small, sturdy phones that can take a fall from 2m ( the phone body IS the case ) and which can be safely kept in a back jeans pocket, and which are thic

  • I've been an LG user since the "The V" in '06, with the exception of a brief stint with an HTC ThunderBolt. I've found them almost universally reliable and usually with the features I need earlier and in a more reliable fashion than other manufacturers. They've made a point of keeping removable batteries around longer than many other US-available manufacturers, and their cameras have been absolutely amazing for my needs -- especially in low light situations. (In fact, the G3's videos still look phenomenal c

    • I have seen multiple Android phones (different manufacturers including Samsung and stock Android) in my extended family. None of them come close to the UI quality of LG's. Samsung's dialler and contacts management is so poor compared to the LG ( I have used L9 and now Q6). Really, for how many people does it really matter if they really need the fastest CPU and largest memory? The more important thing is to have a friendlier UI especially for the non-IT savvy folks. Apart from the dialler and contacts magam

    • I'm glad you were luckier than me but they did release some lemons: I've had two (yeah, I was stupid enough to buy a second one after the first starting having problems) LG G5s and found the hardware was very unreliable: From finicky fingerprint readers to cameras that don't focus and GPS problems. I and a Google search rapidly told me I was far from the only one having those problems. After the second one died on the 15th month I decided I was done with them.

  • Keep making them. Please.

  • LG is one of the few phone makers who make phones and not handheld computers. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone wants to pay hundreds of dollars to be burdened with carrying around a silicon and glass brick. Some people want a reliable phone and that's all.

    I'm certain LG could make a good comeback by focusing on the KISS market if they so choose.

  • I've had an LG Xpression Plus 2 and 3. Both were great low-end phones.

  • LG phones has been my home ever since the Nexus line went into the crapper. They are generally affordable. They have a 3.5mm jack. They have QI charging. Their Android build is mostly bloat-free. As far as I can tell, my 2 year-old G7's battery hasn't lost a beat, still charges as if it's new. It's a shame, these phones be missed.

    • LG phones has been my home ever since the Nexus line went into the crapper.

      My Nexus phone was made by LG, failed, and went into the crapper, you insensitive clod! In that order, mind you. Actually I still have it, but I don't know why. It's worth nothing since the digitizer failed and costs all the money to replace. It was pretty, but it was shitty, and I'll never buy another LG phone because of my experience with that one — plus all the other LG shit I've owned previously, all of which failed. I thought for sure Google would have exerted some quality control, but no. No, th

  • Market consolidation was coming I have heard it from some pundits for a while. After all, the rise of the chinaphone and the smaller makers just haemorrhaging money, with no sign of being able to turn things around, it makes sense.

    The only thing I think that's silly out of LG's statement is, they haven't considered to maybe try something radical and try making a phone people want, or offer support for longer. Google appears to be attempting to turn things around by gradually increasing the support of their

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  • My family had two LG G3 phones that failed in the two most common ways -- failed SIM card slot, and failed video driver. Despite ample evidence through user reports online that both of these were clearly due to defects in materials or manufacture, LG did not offer an out of warranty repair (less than 1 month out). They did offer a non-new G4 as a replacement for the screen failure one for a fee.

    By comparison, I'm in my fourth year with my Samsung S8+, and it works fine -- and , as testament to how I treat m

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