[아듀 LG폰 中] ‘Du Sung-Sung’ by relocation of MC manpower… Consumers’put aside’ over post service

LG Electronics finally decided to withdraw from the mobile phone business at the end of July, but it is likely to continue over the issue of relocation of employees of the remaining mobile communication (MC) business units and the continuation of after-sales services.

Ahead of relocation to other business divisions or LG affiliates within LG Electronics, the MC business division’s employees, which are in the midst of a preliminary demand survey, are questioning whether they will be able to settle in a new position without major departure. I am concerned about a situation where there will be a limit to the situation.

LG Electronics held a board meeting the morning of the previous day and decided to end the mobile phone business on July 31st. Various reactions were poured between the industry and stakeholders over this decision to withdraw the mobile phone business, which started in 1995 and has continued until now, after 26 years, and at the same time, put emphasis on fostering new growth engines for the future, such as the automotive electronics business.

◇ The Chinese IT industry is aiming closely for MC employees’ counting method for the realignment of manpower.

First of all, the company’s official announcement of the withdrawal of the business from the MC business made it inevitable to transfer them to other business units or affiliates.

Since LG Electronics officially announced at the end of last year that it is considering various ways to organize its mobile phone business, there has been a long time since the position of MC business executives and employees was also scheduled to change. However, no matter what decision LG Electronics makes, it has been emphasized that it will prioritize the principle of maintaining the employment of its employees, and so far, the agitation of executives and employees has not been noticeable.

However, as LG Electronics finally decided to withdraw the business completely, the fire fell on the feet of employees who had to decide where to go right away. Internally, preliminary investigations are underway to change the affiliation of LG Energy Solutions to other divisions within LG Electronics, or to group affiliates such as LG Display and LG Innotek, including LG Energy Solutions that have recently been spun off, and a public offering is planned. Based on this, it is expected that the relocation of the workforce will be completed by the first half of the year.

At least, they will have the opportunity to remain at LG Group companies, but there is a significant risk for employees who have previously focused on mobile business to adapt to new organizations and tasks. Although it has undergone a preliminary investigation, it seems that some personnel withdrawal will also be inevitable as not all personnel will be moved to the desired position.

It is known that some of the executives and employees are also considering how to completely move to the IT industry, where the ransom has recently increased. More and more people are turning to the game industry or programming industry, centering on the mobile software field or research and development (R&D) jobs, and attempts are being made to completely change their major to the semiconductor industry, where large-scale personnel are being recruited.

The problem of some manpower churn cannot be prevented, but above all, the possibility that the manpower possessing LG Electronics’ core mobile technology and patent know-how will move to Chinese competitors is high is considered a problem. In particular, Chinese companies have been using their tremendous capital power as a weapon to explicitly remove Korean IT manpower.

It is also gaining strength that LG will actively absorb human resources who are transferred to take out technologies and patents such as the world’s first’rollable phone’ that has been successfully developed prior to the withdrawal of the MC business. This is because there is not yet a place where LG, which showed the most advanced technology, has released a commercialized rollable phone while deciding to withdraw from the business.

◇ “I only used LG phones…” Consumers who have lost their way to go…SWUpdate·LG Pay will eventually disappear

As the LG phone era comes to an end, consumers feel the same thing. Not only users who have already used LG phones, but also potential customers who have been deprived of the choice of smartphone brands, are concerned that the monopoly situation of some brands will expand.

First of all, those who have already used LG smartphones have expressed their opinion that most of the related organizations and personnel will disappear due to the withdrawal of the MC business, and it will likely cause inconvenience in AS and software updates.

LG Electronics re-emphasized its position to continue providing sufficient after-sales service to avoid inconvenience to customers and users who purchase existing products, but doubts remain.

There are many opinions expressing regret that LG phone users are satisfied with the fact that the LG phone that they used is no longer appearing in the online community of LG phone users, but they are constantly raising the issue of follow-up management and updates for the phone they are currently using.

At the same time, there are many cases where LG phones are sold as used. Articles continue to be posted about selling LG phones, which were purchased for second phones, at a lower price compared to the past, centering on online second-hand markets and the IT community. In addition, there are also consumers who want to purchase one more used phone of the same type in case the LG phone they are using needs replacement of parts or consumables in the future.

Inquiries from consumers asking whether’LG Pay’, one of the useful software of LG phones, can be continuously used are also flooding. In Korea, it was impossible to use the iPhone’s’Apple Pay’ and only Samsung and LG’s payments could be used. However, the inconvenience of users is that they cannot use the LG Pay software due to the withdrawal of the LG phone.

LG plans to maintain the LG Pay system for the time being. However, as with the software update problem, consumers are unable to hide their regrets as the perception that eventually the service will be terminated sequentially is spreading.

After the LG phone they used, they are also wondering which phone to use. There is an observation that many of the consumers who insisted on LG phones will be transferred to Samsung phone users with the same Android operating system (OS), but on the contrary, there is no option for the core fans who have continued to use LG phones because they do not prefer Samsung phones. It is counted as the biggest stumbling block.

An industry insider said, “If you think that consumers who preferred LG phones will use Chinese phones with low prices as a weapon, it is a mistake.” said.