LG Looking to Shut Down Smartphone Business After Failing to Find a Buyer

Is Apple considering buying LG's smartphone unit? They're making their own chips, why not make the device.

BlackBerry made their own devices. They didn't sell/lose their smartphone business because they made their own devices. They tanked for other reasons, a combination of reasons.
 
mikeyy00 said:
Why? What "IP" does LG have over Samsung? There's almost no difference between the Android manufacturers these days. All are rocking some form of OLED screen, Snapdragon XXX, way too much RAM and 128-512 storage. That's part of the problem of being an Android vendor.. how do you make your phone stand above others? It aint your custom Android skin.. that's for sure.
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LG has a ton of valuable IP on all sorts of things (CPUs, GPUs, screens, wireless standards, etc/)

It’s not an issue of whether it is ”better” IP than Samsung - the issue is whether owning that IP gives them the rights to do things without having to pay others, without fear of being sued (because they would counter-sue), etc.
 
Somewhat surprising, but who would want to buy it? The Chinese mfg have no interest, Samsung does not and who is going to want to be the new kid on the block? If you can’t make money, might as well **** it down, better in the long run
 
BlueCreek said:
Would be interesting to know what VW would want with a smartphone business…
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Clearly they wanted to have a competitor to Apple for when Apple started selling cars. After they decided that they were not worried about Apple, they decided they did not need to buy it. :cool:

I would guess it was to integrate into their cars for in-dash electronics.
 
This is sad news. My first android phone was a LG V10. I loved how it was something different than just a iPhone or a Galaxy.

Debating whether I should get a Wing just for fun now.
 
Sadly there will eventually only be a couple of players left in the Android side. Most likely Chinese brands.
I don’t even imagine Samsung staying in this low margin game much longer other than to supply components to other manufacturers.
 
SactoGuy18 said:
Don't laugh. I wouldn't be surprised if Google does seriously consider having LG exclusively make the Pixel models from here on out in various forms for multiple price markets.
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Nah, Google’s far less interested in Android these days. They completely backed out of the tablet market and their last phone wasn’t even flagship. There’s at least a LITTLE reason for concern, I think. Perhaps LG is the canary in the coal mine and know that they don’t want to create a phone AND OS AND app store on their own.
 
ian87w said:
All I can see is Samsung reigning supreme.
In Android world, it's literally just Samsung vs the Chinese.
HTC, Sony, and now LG simply faded out.
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Difference with Sony’s cellphone division which is obviously tiny compared to iphones market share and that isn't going to change anytime soon but they still exist and recently got back into profitability shifting focus from a ‘catch all’ brand with a 1000 crap phones after they closed down the Sweden design office (holdover from when Sony brought out Ericssons mobile division, most of the software dev and R&D was undertaken there ) moving the division in house to be a more of a high end smiled down range focusing on specialized higher margin devices as seen in the Xperia Pro.



Still its amazing to think that Sony’s cell phone division had 14% market share in 2014!

People would think you was crazy if you said “in 7 years later Apple with a 2 Trillion usd market cap rule the global cellphone market with the scraps left to Samsung and the army of faceless product dumped chinese branded phones.”
 
LOL that foldable they showed off was such an obviously mocked up vaporware and it will forever remain that way.

They make dang good OLED TVs, though.
 
I like LG's TVs much better than Samsung's. The Android market is a crowded field - how are you supposed to differentiate yourself, when you're all running the same OS? Nokia's phones were great in the SymbianOS days, but even they couldn't make a go of it as an Android offering.
 
First of all, this have little to nothing to do with Apple, so its strange to see this covered. Secondly, if LG needs to make back its lost money all it has to do is create an OLED monitor and sell it to the world. The world is begging for an OLED screen over 6 inches and under 40 inches. No one in a decade has attempted to release an OLED monitor and the technology is ready.
 
Unregistered 4U said:
Nah, Google’s far less interested in Android these days. They completely backed out of the tablet market and their last phone wasn’t even flagship. There’s at least a LITTLE reason for concern, I think. Perhaps LG is the canary in the coal mine and know that they don’t want to create a phone AND OS AND app store on their own.
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Technically, I would still love to see somebody build high-end Android phones that run a pure version of Android, not the version with a unique UI like what Samsung does. LG should seriously consider doing that, and when Android's long-rumored successor, code-named Fuchsia, finally becomes a commercial product, LG manufactured phones will be among the first to run that.
 
I like LG, they make the best TV on the market imo but I don't know how they think they can sell their phone business when its literally just a shell around a free android os. I doubt any of the android phone makers can make a business case to sell.
 
They wouldn’t have to shut down or sell if they would just make a better product.
If they are not willing to make something to disrupt the industry, then they don’t need to be making phones anymore.

LG phones are phones that you see at Dollar General. That’s their problem that they let themselves obtain that status.

Some brands simply don’t have a vision for themselves, which is a critical part to even existing in the tech industry these days.
They obviously don’t have one or don’t care to have one. Their only vision is to make money apparently, and that isn’t enough to keep you going these days. Making money is the sub-vision attached under the primary vision or goal of your brand, the perk that comes with it all.
 
What's the phone the guy in the photo is holding?
Looks like a 7+ inch 4:3 phone, I'd love a screen like that.
 
MacRumors said:


LG is looking to close down its entire smartphone division after failing to find a buyer for the ailing section of its business, according to the Korea Herald.

LG-Rollable.jpg

In January, LG announced that it was considering options for an exit from the smartphone industry, "including sale, withdrawal and downsizing." Though LG was once the world's third-largest smartphone maker and a sizeable competitor to Apple in the industry, the company's smartphone business has seen declining shipments and accrued losses of $4.5 billion over the past five years, leading to the need for an urgent re-evaluation of the division.

LG reportedly entered talks with Vietnam's Vingroup and automaker Volkswagen about purchasing the company's smartphone business, but negotiations did not lead to an agreement. Although the decision has yet to be confirmed, industry insiders report that LG is now likely to shut down its smartphone business instead of selling it. A source speaking to the Korea Herald explained:With LG's internal restructuring plan now reaching its conclusion and no buyer having been found, the company is said to be leaning toward cutting its losses by closing the smartphone division fully.

LG's recently announced smartphone projects, such as "Rainbow" and "Rollable," are believed to have been scrapped, as the company looks to utilize its existing mobile workforce elsewhere in the business, such as the vehicle component solutions division.

LG is expected to publicize the decision about its smartphone business unit next month after a board meeting.

Article Link: LG Looking to Shut Down Smartphone Business After Failing to Find a Buyer
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joecomo said:
that hurts - liquidating that business is so much more painful than selling it off.
Good news for Samsung & others - market is still crowded so profits might not really
go up.
Probably irrelevant for Apple though ...
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I had several of their devices (G4, V10, V35) and they just were not as good as Samsung. LG is horrid when it comes to updates. Google already got the HTC IP so LG is better off selling components and licensing IP. BBK is the rising Chinese OEM (Oppo, Vivo, RealMe, OnePlus). We need at least three big OEMS in the smartphone market sector. As m much as I like my Google Pixels, they are small fry in smartphone world.
 
ikramerica said:
Good luck getting support for the LG phones out in the wild.

Then again, good luck getting support for their problematic OLED TVs either.
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What’s problematic about their tv’s? I’ve only heard good things.
macsareveryintreasting said:
That would be a very bad play on LG’s part. To be honest, a lot of people use LG Phones. Not as much as Apple and Samsung but people still use LG Phones. It specifically for their household electronics like the Refrigerators, Washers and Dryers. So LG, you might not want to go down that steep road.
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It’s not really a bad play because they are literally loosing billions of dollars
 
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