LG is considering leaving the smartphone market

Gandalf_The_Grey

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LG is considering leaving the smartphone market, according to a letter sent by CEO Kwon Bong-seok to employees, as first reported by The Korea Herald. An LG spokesperson said that competition in the smartphone market is increasingly fierce, forcing LG to "make a cold judgment and the best choice". The Korean company is exploring all options, including the sale, downsizing, or outright termination of its mobile business.

LG's mobile division has continuously posted a loss in every single quarter since the second quarter of 2015 - that's 23 quarters in a row - and LG Electronics has essentially been sustained by other divisions that turn a profit. Little by little, the company has shifted its strategy when it comes to smartphones, and LG's biggest phones in 2020 didn't even pack a flagship chipset from Qualcomm or MediaTek. Phones like the Velvet and Wing both used the Snapdragon 765 chipset instead and tried to stand out thanks to unique designs or new concepts, which was part of its strategy to make the business profitable by 2021.

Towards the end of last year, a report suggested that LG was looking to outsource the design and manufacturing of more of its low-end and mid-range smartphones, hoping to reduce costs and focus its efforts on more premium products. At this year's CES, LG teased a rollable phone, which the company said would be coming later this year, but that appears to be up in the air now.

Reports that LG might be exiting the smartphone business floated around last week, but the company denied those rumors soon after. It could be some time until we know for sure what route the Korean brand will take.
 

Eggnog

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Many moons ago I had an LG G3 I really liked a lot. I had a later LG (Can't remember the model) that I did not like at all. It ended up becoming a paperweight. I switched to Samsung short after. Who is left in the Android market if LG leaves?
 

HarborFront

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Many moons ago I had an LG G3 I really liked a lot. I had a later LG (Can't remember the model) that I did not like at all. It ended up becoming a paperweight. I switched to Samsung short after. Who is left in the Android market if LG leaves?
Let's see............

Samsung
Pixel
Huawei
Xiaomi
Oppo
OnePlus
Asus
ZTE
Sony
 
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Marko :)

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This is expected. Sony may follow the same route too.
They make great home appliances, but they really suck at making phones. My first smartphone was LG and I wasn't impressed at all. Brother had the same phone and it went for a repair two times during the warranty period. Year later, his phone completely died.

That was truly the worst (smart)phone that I've owned. I don't know what is at question, but it looks like LG that makes home appliances and LG that makes phones are two completely different companies.

I own LG Smart TV, LG Smart AI washing machine, LG microwave and LG air conditioner. All of these products work great and I haven't had a single problem with them. In fact, I'm so satisfied that I'm planning to replace some other non-LG appliances with LG appliances once they break.
Let's see............

Samsung
Pixel
Huawei
Xiaomi
Oppo
OnePlus
Asus
ZTE
Sony
So, for us that don't want to spend a lot of money on a phone, basically only three brands; Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi. If you want Google services, then there's two left; Samsung and Xiaomi.

I'd like to buy a Pixel phone, but since Google doesn't sell it in Croatia, there's no way I'm buying it. They aren't officially available here, but some shops do sell Pixel 3 phones and the latest Pixel 4a 5G whose price is basically nothing. Just 753 EUR or 915 USD (if you pay with card and in monthly installments it's even expensier). Yes, you've read that right. I'm not giving that kind of money for a phone, especially not for a mid-range phone. Price in the US is reasonable if you ask me. Hell, I'd buy it right now if it had that price here.
 
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pwnedcrypto

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Because the phones literally suck, and it is their fault. One big thing is that they do not update their phones nor optimize Android for them. If they did that one simple thing the phones would sell a lot better.
 

Evjl's Rain

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LG make phones with decent features but the hardware issues and poor softwares kill them
There is a history of hardware issues almost every year which negatively affect their users
Similarly, Sony phones have great features but the hardware is not durable. My worst ever phone is the Xperia Z3 that had its first problem after only 2 months
never have had such big problems with apple, samsung and xiaomi
 

Ink

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This is expected. Sony may follow the same route too.
I thought Sony had already left the market.

They only provide for certain markets, not globally.

May 2019
1611494212386.png

Source: Sony Mobile will adjust operations in these markets (Update: CEO comments)
 

Marko :)

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Sony is trying to make their comeback with latest camera focused devices but let's be honest - majority of users (including me) don't really care about advanced camera modes - all they (we) want is to shoot best photo with minimum effort.
My current phone is still Xperia XA2 Ultra from 2018. I think it's great device despite Wi-Fi and FM radio not working correctly (those are the problems which affect all Xperia's). Even though I said I'd buy Sony smartphone again, I've changed my mind since these Wi-Fi problems are becoming so annoying. Plus, it seems like they don't make mid range devices anymore, so this is another reason why my next device won't be Sony.

With that said, my next device is probably gonna be Samsung or Xiaomi. One thing I know for sure, it will have a LCD cause I don't like (AM)OLED displays.
 

SeriousHoax

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any news concerning HTC? it was a beast of a phone don't you think?
HTC don't make phones anymore. Part of their mobile division was acquired by Google. So that team now works for Google for their Pixel lineups.
I remember their HTC One M7 device the most. It was a really special smartphone at that time with metal body and wonderful design.
Even my DP here was captured by a HTC device. It was HTC One E8.
 

Marko :)

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HTC don't make phones anymore. Part of their mobile division was acquired by Google. So that team now works for Google for their Pixel lineups.
I remember their HTC One M7 device the most. It was a really special smartphone at that time with metal body and wonderful design.
Even my DP here was captured by a HTC device. It was HTC One E8.
They do still make phone, but not nearly as much they used to. Their latest phone is HTC Desire 21 Pro 5G.

I remember the times when mobile operators offered variety of smartphones. Nowadays they just offer iPhone, few models of Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi (at least in my country).
 

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