- LG has confirmed a memo to employees about the future of the mobile division.
- The memo stated that "all options are open" to unity.
- Another outlet claimed that a Vietnamese company was interested in LG's North American business.
The past five years have not been good for LG as the company had a long string of loss-making quarters and lost market share to competing manufacturers. Now the company appears to be considering drastic measures.
According to ZDNet Korea and the country Yonhap news Bong-Seok Kwon, CEO of LG Electronics, sent an email to employees stating that "all possibilities for the future of the smartphone business are open".
"LG Electronics has reached a point where it is time to make the best choice by calmly assessing current and future competitiveness in the wireless business. At the moment all options are open and the direction of business operations is being carefully examined, "the CEO was quoted as saying by the outlets. He reportedly added that "in principle" members of the department will continue to be employed regardless of the outcome.
A LG spokesman confirmed this Android Authority that an email was sent to the employees, but it was made clear that neither sales nor layoffs were mentioned:
The internal memo was just to address (mostly) local Korean rumors by letting staff know that nothing had been decided about the future of our cellular business, but management was open. In summary: "The management of LG Electronics is determined to make all the decisions that are necessary to solve its challenges in the mobile communications business in 2021. To date, nothing has been finalized."
However, Korea NewsPim reports that the Vietnamese company VinGroup - the parent company of the emerging smartphone brand VinSmart - is interested in acquiring LG's North American smartphone business.
It is believed that LG's smartphone sales network, after-market support center, R&D center staff and US operations facility in Latin America will be the key acquisition targets in the event of a contract.
North America is LG's most popular market. The company ranks third in the US with a market share of 13% in the third quarter of 2020. Any company that starts business in North America would theoretically have a strong position in the region from the start.
VinSmart, in particular, is virtually unknown outside of Vietnam, but the company, along with ZTE, was one of the first to offer phones with under-display selfie cameras. In particular, the VSmart Aris Pro packs a 20 megapixel camera under the screen.
Do you think LG should sell its smartphone business? Take our poll near the top of the page or leave a comment below!
