South Korean publication Elec reported not so long ago that LG was going to quit the smartphone industry. The publication claimed that LG would announce the decision by the end of the month. It was also said that with the exception of the LG Rollable all development will be halted.
Android Police contacted the South Korean company’s global consumer tech communicator Ken Hong to find out if there was any substance to the rumor. Here’s what Ken had to say:
Completely false and without merit. I won’t even justify this rumor with a statement.
The Elec report has been removed from the website.
This means that LG’s smartphone is still alive, even if it doesn’t exactly work.
In December, Reuters reported that LG has revamped its smartphone wing to focus in-house research and production on high-end devices, and outsource the design and manufacture of low-end and mid-range mobile phones to Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs). This could help the mobile communications industry, which has suffered 22 consecutive quarters of losses, reduce costs and compete better with Chinese companies.
The LG Rollable has apparently been delayed
The Rollable smartphone, which was previewed at CES 2021, was due to arrive in March. The phone has a screen that extends upward to create a larger screen.
Keep in mind that the device was only shown on video, and the company did not bring an actual prototype to the show.
Naver seems to know why. According to the site, there are issues with the display and driving part of the LG Rollable and the current implementation could pose durability issues. There are also internal disagreements among company executives regarding the device.
As a result, the launch would have been postponed to September.
According to a leak, the device will be very expensive and that makes us wonder if the Rollable will be more of a niche product. This doesn’t sound like the brightest idea for a company that needs to increase shipment volume to stay in business.
We’ll have to wait and see if CEO Kwon Bong-seok will be able to deliver on his last year’s pledge to make the mobile business profitable by 2021.
LG Electronics’ mobile business will be profitable by 2021. I can say that we can make it happen as LG Electronics will expand our range of mobiles and regularly launch new ones with mind-blowing factors to entice consumers.
