LG Electronics still unsure about the future of its smartphone business

LG Electronics is still not sure about what it should do to its mobile phone business. The company has been considering its options for months now, but it has not come up with a definite decision yet.

As per The Korea Herald, LG Electronics is trying to figure out the best step it could take for its smartphone business. The company initially decided to get rid of it since it was only eating up resources and not raking in profits anymore.

Why LG considered giving up its smartphone-making business

In January, it was reported that LG Electronics is shutting down its mobile division. However, it was later said that the electronics company is not really 100% sure about closing it down and rather “considering all possibilities” now.

The company disclosed that it was forced to consider the sale of its smartphone unit because it is not doing well for a few years already. LG stated that since 2015, it failed to earn as expected, and instead, they see a declining sales chart.

Over time, the company incurred almost KRW5 trillion or around $4.4 billion losses in 2020. This is the result of accumulated operating expenses and other payables involved in the production and running of the business. With this situation, business analysts predicted that LG Electronics will end up selling for its final decision.

"LG reportedly had talks with others over the sale of the unit but apparently there was not much progress in their negotiations," an official said. "It seems that selling its entire mobile business appears to be difficult at this moment, as is the partial sale of the unit."

LG Electronics reached a final decision?

It was reported that LG was actually looking for buyers for its smartphone unit, and this has been going on since the beginning of the year. There were interested companies in and outside of South Korea, but all the negotiations failed. Now the company can’t find a buyer.

Meanwhile, in a new report published on Korea’s Sports Donga, it was said that LG made its decision to just shut down the company instead of selling it. This information was said to have come from a leaked memo issued by LG’s chief executive officer Brian Kwon.

In the memo, he allegedly said that the company is having a hard time finding a buyer, and without a deal, the best option left for LG Electronics is just to shutter the mobile unit and transfer its staff to other divisions within the firm.