South Korean dishwasher maker LG Electronics has pulled the plug on its failed wannabe iPhone unit after struggling and failing to find a buyer, a move that is set to make it the first major smartphone brand to completely withdraw from the market.
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone, killer.
Its decision to pull out will leave its 10% share in North America, where it is the No. 3 brand, to be gobbled up by Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc.
LG’s smartphone division has logged nearly six years of losses totalling some $4.5 billion. Dropping out of the fiercely competitive sector would allow LG to focus on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices and smart homes, it said in a statement.
In better times, LG was early to market with a number of cell phone innovations including ultra-wide angle cameras and at its peak in 2013, it was the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer behind Samsung and Apple.
LG’s current global share is only about 2%… LG’s smartphone division, the smallest of its five divisions accounting for about 7% of revenue, is expected to be wound down by July 31.
MacDailyNews Take: One South Korean dishwasher maker down, one to go.
Going forward, LG will do better by concentrating on making components for real iPhones.