LG may be out of the smartphone business, the company will shift 60% of its workforce to another business
LG, the world’s 10th largest electronics company, is now set to exit the smartphone segment. According to a company official, the company is considering all aspects, including exiting the smartphone business and reducing business. LG’s share in India’s smartphone market is less than 0.5%. Its highest share was 7% in 2011. It accounted for 3% of the global market in 2018, according to a research firm. Then it was at number seven. It also dropped out of the top-7 after that.
60 percent employees will shift to other unit
According to a newspaper report, LG is considering shifting 60 percent of its workforce to other businesses or other affiliates. The company has not officially given any explanation on what will happen to the remaining 40 percent employees. The company official said that whatever may be the decision on the smartphone business, but no one will be thrown out. The company has not told how many employees are there in the smartphone business.
CEO gave information to employees on email
According to the report, LG CEO Kwon Bong-seok sent an email to employees talking about the closure of the smartphone business. An official said that the company has lost about $4.5 billion (about Rs 32,856 crore) in the last five years. Therefore it was necessary for the company to take this step.
Company can focus on flagship phone
In the smartphone business, LG competes with domestic rival Samsung as well as several other budget smartphone manufacturers in China such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus. The CEO assured the employees that no one would be fired.
The company introduced a rollable phone at CES 2021
Last year, LG introduced dual-screen Velvet and flip LG wing handsets. At CES 2021, the company also introduced a smartphone with a unique rollable display. The screen size of this phone changes. Recently LG took steps to increase outsourcing of cheap smartphones.
