I think we’re going to file this under completely unsurprising, and extremely saddening simultaneously. This week LG’s CEO Kwon Bong-seok confirmed to the Korean Herald that they are actively considering the future of their smartphone division.
In his statements, he said: “Since the competition in the global market for mobile devices is getting fiercer, it is about time for LG to make a cold judgement and the best choice….. The company is considering all possible measures, including sale, withdrawal and downsizing of the smartphone business.”
For employees at LG it’s not all bad news however with the CEO commenting: “Regardless of any change in the direction of the smartphone business operation, the employment will be maintained, so there is no need to worry,”.
We never wish any Android OEM to fail, a vibrant market with diversity and competition is good for consumers and the ecosystem at large. However, we live in a capitalist market, and profitability is more important than anything that’s actually good for consumers.
With LG failing to fine relevance over the past few years, or more, a change in their smartphone plans seemed almost inevitable. We really hope that LG doesn’t leave the Smartphone market, with their ecosystem of other devices, and a very solid IoT platform with ThinQ I want them to be able to bounce back somehow.
With HTC effectively having been consumed by Google’s hardware division, and now only operating at the fringe it’s sad to see two on the old school Android players falling out of the market.
