The third-largest manufacturer of mobile phones in North America has decided to focus on other areas of its business, from robotics and artificial intelligence to electric vehicle components.
LG Electronics announced on April 5 that it will be ending its production of cellphones and smartphones. Apple and Samsung, who are ahead of LG in terms of the U.S. market share for smartphones, have produced far more smartphones in the last several years.
While it once was early to pioneer new cellphone features like ultra-wide-angle cameras, LG has lost $4.5 billion in its mobile division in the past six years, according to Forbes.
The South Korean company also had many innovation fails, as Tech Radar pointed out.
Apple has dominated the mobile phone business in recent years, with more than 40% of the U.S. market share every quarter between 2019-2020. Samsung is the next largest maker, with about 20-30% in the same time period. LG hovered between 9-13%.
“LG’s strategic decision to exit the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector will enable the company to focus resources in growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services,” LG said in its announcement.
Wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have LG phones as part of their plans, and those mobile phones are often cheaper than Apple or Samsung devices.
LG expects to “wind down” its mobile production by July 31, though you may still be able to find existing inventory after that date. The company said it would continue support for existing LG phone customers for a period of time that will vary by region. Whether it keeps up with Android OS updates remains to be seen. This was a problem area for the company even before its announcement that it was stopping phone manufacturing.
Do you have an LG phone? What do you think about the company’s decision to stop making cellphones?
This story originally appeared on Don't Waste Your Money. Checkout Don't Waste Your Money for product reviews and other great ideas to save and make money.
