LG has announced it will have to scrap its smartphone business after losing money.
The South Korean tech giant has lost around $4.5billion (£3.3billion) over the past six years as it tried to stay relevant in the competitive phone industry.
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LG said in a statement: “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 and artificial intelligence.”
The company revealed its highly anticipated ‘Rollable’ smartphone earlier this year at CES 2021.
It was even the third largest smartphone maker in the world in 2013 and still ranks as third most popular in North America.
However, bosses have blamed the “incredibly competitive” phone market for the company’s decline.
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We now won’t see the LG Rollable come to market or any of its other rumoured devices as the entire LG smartphone business unit will close.
In 2020, LG shipped 28 million smartphones while rival Samsung is said to have shipped over 250 million.
This isn’t the end for LG as a tech brand though.
It’s the second best-selling TV brand across the globe and is a strong competitor with Samsung in this area.
LG will continue to sell and make home appliances and work on its joint venture with Magna International to make electric car parts.
It also has plans to work on a 6G network.
What will happen to LG phone owners?
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If you use an LG smartphone there is no need to panic.
The company will still provide software updates and support for existing customers for varying periods that depend on customer location.
We have reached out to LG for more clarity on this.
LG won’t be creating or launching any new smartphones but some of the current LG range of phones will still be avaliable to buy.
As long as LG is still selling phones it should still be providing customer support.
Things aren’t expected to fully wind down until July 31.
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In other news, fraudsters are posing as contacts on Whatsapp to hack into people’s phones.
Apple may be preparing to unleash a flurry of new gadgets in a matter of days.
And, Samsung has launched a “try before you buy” scheme for its most expensive mobiles to date.
Do you have an LG phone? Let us know in the comments…
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
