LG Is Officially Quitting The Smartphone Business For Good

• LG is officially walking away from “the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector,” the tech giant confirmed in a recent statement.
• Known as one of the smartphone pioneers, the company later gained lesser popularity as other brands started dominating the industry.
• The manufacturer assured users that they will continue to “provide support and software updates… for a period of time.”

Known as one of the pioneers in the smartphone industry, LG has announced that they are quitting the business for good. According to the South Korean multinational electronics company, they have decided to “exit the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector,” an official statement said.

Moving forward, LG is now planning to focus their resources in other areas such as “electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services.”

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

The company likewise assured:

“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.”

LG used to be one of the top three smartphone manufacturers back in 2013, according to Strategy Anayltics. The sales, however, eventually died down as Chinese companies Xiaomi and Oppo gained greater popularity across the globe.

Counterpoint Research vice president of research Neil Shah shared that LG’s departure “leaves a ‘small vacuum’ of global market share of under 2%.”

Meanwhile, netizens and techexperts couldn’t help but feel nostalgic after hearing about the news.

“Pour one out for LG Mobile,” tweeted tech reviewer Marques Brownlee, “They’re the reason we have [ultrawide cameras] in every new phone right now.”

Tech vlogger Austin Evans also reflected, “LG were never perfect but in a world of boring slabs they delivered some of the most unique phone designs, ideas and features ever.”

Watch this video: