◀ Anchor ▶
LG Electronics, which has been in the red for five years in a row in mobile phones, has revealed that it may quit its smartphone business.
It is analyzed as a move to quit from businesses that are not competitive and focus on future growth engines such as electric vehicle electronics business.
Reporter Jo Yoon-jung covered it.
◀ Report ▶
Last week, it was only 10 days since the world’s first rollable phone was introduced, raising expectations for a new smartphone.
In a press release today, LG Electronics said, “We have reached the point of choosing the best by making a cold judgment on the competitiveness of our mobile business.”
It means you can close your business or sell it.
LG Electronics President Bong-Seok Kwon also sent an e-mail to 3,700 employees of the mobile phone business division, saying, “In any case, the employment of employees will be maintained, so don’t be anxious.”
LG Electronics, which enjoyed its heyday as a feature phone in the 2000s, fell behind the transition to the smartphone market that Apple opened in 2007, and recorded a deficit for 23 consecutive quarters since 2015.
Only the accumulated deficit is 5 trillion won.
We recently launched a new type of smartphone such as Wing and v50 to rebound, but our domestic market share is only 13% and the world market share is only 1.5%.
In the industry, if LG Electronics sells its mobile phone business, it is highly likely to be acquired by overseas companies.
[김지산/키움증권 센터장]
“Although I showed it on a rollable phone, the value of (LG Electronics’) technology and patents is considerable, so it seems that there will certainly be an attractive buyer.”
It is also analyzed that last month, LG Electronics formed a 1 trillion won joint venture with Magna, a global electric vehicle parts company, to step out of the incompetent smartphone business and reorganize the business structure centered on electric vehicle electronics, AI, and robots.
[권봉석/LG전자 사장(지난 11일)]
“Our goal is to be one of the industry’s leading suppliers of automotive parts and solutions.”
According to the news of the review of the sale of the smartphone business, LG Electronics’ share price rose close to 13% today to record the highest.
This is Jo Yoon-jung, MBC News
(Video editing: Jiyoung Lee)
MBC News awaits your report 24 hours a day.
▷ Phone 02-784-4000
▷ Email [email protected]
▷ KakaoTalk @mbc report