LG Gives up on Smartphone Business
06 April, 2021
LG has given up trying to sell its money-losing smartphone business and decided to dismantle instead.
The decision was made at a board meeting on Monday morning, about two months after LG announced it was open to "all possibilities" for future operations and 26 years since it started its mobile business.
A senior source at LG said Sunday, "Some foreign businesses that have been in talks over a sale came close to conducting due diligence, but they were more interested in our mobile-related patents than the actual business."
The company therefore decided it would be more profitable to retain its patents in preparation for forays into artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and other future technologies.
LG had been in talks with Vietnam's Vingroup, Volkswagen and Google.
LG will ask staff to apply for a transfer to other units. The bulk will be moved to Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province where LG has its home appliance factory and research center, while others will be relocated to LG Energy Solution (automotive batteries), LG Innotek (camera modules and other smartphone parts) and other affiliates.
Most of the staff at the smartphone business are R&D workers and should find a home in another division, according to the company.
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