LG to stop making phones altogether, and a decision may be announced as soon as Monday
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UPDATE: Another source is corroborating LG's exit from the phone business now, The Korea Times. Its report pegs Monday, April 5, as the date for the rumored intracompany meeting to splice the phone department among the more profitable ones.
When asked to comment on that rumor, LG officials simply stated "there's nothing to comment on," yet they added "All we can say is that every possibility is open. Although we cannot confirm that right now, we will announce the specific direction of our mobile communications business." Original story continues below...
Its sources from the local electronics industry have tipped that LG is now planning to shutter its smartphone division altogether, after negotiations with VW and others to buy it didn't pan out.
As a result, not only the plans to take the LG Rollable display phone out of the lab and launch it commercially have been put on ice, but LG's entire first-half phone release schedule as well; it was meant to continue with the LG "Rainbow" concept, a successor to the LG Velvet.
This news comes hot on the heels of last month's rumor that the LG Rainbow development has stalled, so where there's smoke, there's most probably fire in LG's phone-making plans indeed. The unnamed industry official source discloses the reasons for LG's pending decision to call it quits on phones to be as follows:
Even considering the Korean and North American markets, where the LG Electronics smartphone business remains, the global market share is around 1%, so it is difficult to find a buyer to buy at a high price.
Too bad, as LG has quite a good market share and brand recognition as a phone maker in the US, and has brought us many an intriguing device, the last of which is the quirky LG Wing, with its swivel display form factor. LG Wing didn't win in the market commercially, though, and may have been the last nail in LG's phone business coffin, it turns out.
The news for closing the smartphone business, and relocating its resources to the automotive, appliances, and battery departments within LG, will reportedly be served to its employees as soon as the next few weeks, and LG's exit from the phone industry could be official in April.
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