The history of LG’s smartphone division has been constant of failure and tragedy over the past few years. Despite their constant efforts to innovate and sharpen things up, they have not managed to really make a profit from their smartphone business. Although they regularly make headlines and do their best to keep things fresh with strange concepts like the LG Wing, the reality is that their smartphone division is still losing money, and that their efforts to turn the tide are not working so well. It has been previously reported that LG was in talks about selling their smartphone division, but their search for a buyer is reportedly not going very well, and they may be forced to throw in the towel and close their smartphone business.
This report is from the Dong-A Ilbo South Korean newspaper (via Bloomberg). Previously, a company spokesperson told us that their smartphone business would not disappear any time soon (before a new report appeared exactly the opposite just days later). They even had serious ambitions for 2021, including a smartphone with a scrollable screen, which even received Bluetooth SIG certification. Reportedly, this smartphone has been scrapped, and this new report also says that the company is putting all its new smartphone releases on the shelf for the first half of 2021.
LG has been in talks with companies from people like Volkswagen and Vingroup JSC in Vietnam to possibly sell their money-losing smartphone division, but it seems to have failed so far. If they do not get a buyer, LG will have to abolish their smartphone division completely.
That would be a huge loss for the Android ecosystem. Although LG has not fared well in terms of sales over the past year, they have been a historically important player in the Android ecosystem, putting out legendary smartphones like the LG G2. They were also the manufacturers behind other iconic phones like the Nexus 5, the Nexus 5X and the Google Pixel 2 XL.
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