LG leaves ‘all possibilities’ open for mobile devices, sales tipped

For the past five years or so, LG has not been good, as the company has recorded a long series of loss-making quarters and lost market share against competing manufacturers. It now appears that the company is considering drastic measures.

According to ZDNet Korea and the country’s Yonhap News LG Electronics CEO Bong-Seok Kwon sent an email to employees saying that “all possibilities are open” for the future of the smartphone business.

“LG Electronics has come to the point of making the best choice by calmly assessing current and future competitiveness in the mobile business. At present, all possibilities are open and the direction of the business operations is being carefully reviewed, ”the CEO said through the outlets. He apparently added that members of the division would ‘in principle’ still be employed regardless of the outcome.

An LG spokesperson confirmed Android Authority that an e-mail was sent to employees, but it is clear that there was no question of a sale or dismissal:

The internal memorandum was merely to address (mostly) local Korean rumors by informing employees that nothing has been decided yet about the future of our mobile business, but that management has an open mind. To sum up, he said: ‘LG Electronics’ management is committed to making the decision needed to address its 2021 mobile business challenges. As of today, nothing has been finalized. ‘

But Koreans NewsPim reports that Vietnam’s VinGroup – the parent company of the emerging smartphone brand VinSmart – is interested in acquiring LG’s North American smartphone operations.

It is believed that LG’s smartphone sales network, support center to the market, employees of the R&D center and the production plant in Latin America belonging to the American company will be the main target for the acquisition in the case of ‘ an agreement.

North America is the most popular market of LG, with a third place in the US with 13% market share in the third quarter of 2020. Any company that takes up the North American business will theoretically have a strong position in the market from the beginning region have. .

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VinSmart in particular is virtually unknown outside of Vietnam, but the company joined ZTE to be one of the first to offer cell phones with selfie cameras under the screen. More specifically, the VSmart Aris Pro packs a 20MP camera under the screen.

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