LG Electronics likely to shut mobile phone business, says report

LG Electronics may shutter its mobile communication business rather than sell it, DongA Ilbo reports, citing an unidentified person in the electronics industry.
 
Negotiations with Germany’s Volkswagen AG and Vietnam’s Vingroup JSC on possible sale of the smartphone business seemed to have failed, according to the report.
 
LG Electronics’ CEO Kwon Bong-eok said in January that all options were on the table for the loss-making operation. The company was said to have halted development last month of phones with a rollable display, and DongA said Sunday that LG has shelved a planned first-half rollout of all new smartphones.

 

LG may share its decision on the business’ fate with employees as soon as early April, the DongA report said.
 
In January, the LG Mobile Communications had announced full-year 2020 revenues of KRW 5.22 trillion ($4.66 billion). Fourth-quarter sales of KRW 1.39 trillion ($1.24 billion) were 4.9 per cent higher than the same quarter of 2019 but 9.2 per cent lower than the previous quarter due to shortages of 4G chipsets and sluggish sales of premium smartphones in overseas markets.
 
The company had announced its 2020 revenues of KRW 63.26 trillion ($56.45 billion) and record operating profit of KRW 3.20 trillion ($2.85 billion), an increase of 31.1 per cent over 2019. |The company had claimed that growth was driven primarily by higher sales of premium home appliances and OLED TVs as well as strong growth in vehicle component solutions.

 
Sales in the fourth quarter of KRW 18.78 trillion ($16.76 billion) grew 16.9 per cent from the same period of 2019 and were 11 per cent higher than the previous quarter. Despite the impact of Covid-19, the quarter’s operating profit of KRW 650.20 billion ($580.19 million) increased significantly by 539 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
 
While Covid-19 and slow economic recovery remain concerns for 2021, LG siad they expect the global economy to normalise under the sound fiscal policies of world governments and the successful implementation of vaccinations. In 2021, core technologies such as AI, 5G, IoT and mobility will be widely applied to various LG business areas.

 
LG Electronics said on Wednesday its smart TV platform will be used by other TV makers this year as the company eyes boosting its software capability.
 
LG said some 20 TV manufacturers, including RCA, Konka and Ayonz, will release TVs installed with its webOS platform.