When it comes to smartphone makers actually making money in the Android world, there aren’t many. It’s mostly just Samsung, and that’s about it. LG has emerged to become a close competitor to its South Korean neighbor, but their devices still aren’t selling as well as Samsung’s are. The LG G5, which the company launched at Mobile World Congress back in February, was met with a rather lukewarm reception. Many reviewers said that it felt cheap, and that it was more of a gimmick than anything. On top of that, it hasn’t been selling well, since it launched worldwide on April 1st.
Today, LG announced that they have shaken up their mobile division, and have also created a program management office (PMO) within the division. The Korea Times states that Mobiles Chief Cho Juno will oversee the program management office. Adding that the PMO has the “authority to handle strategies for product development, manufacturing, marketing and sales.”Oh Hyung-hoon will be the chief, and will be supported by mobile division president Ha Jeong-wook. Meanwhile, Kim Hyung-jeong will be the head of LG’s mobile research lab.
The reasoning for the shake up is due to the LG G5 failing “to generate sales”, according to a statement that LG gave The Korea Times. A brutally honest statement, to say the least. LG is hoping that this restructuring will bring some “new momentum” to their mobile business, which has begun to struggle in the past few years.
LG did take a chance with the LG G5 this year, going the modular route. Allowing customers to pop off the bottom of their smartphone and replace the battery, as well as adding on other modules. It appears that the decision hasn’t turned out to be a good one just yet, however. Additionally, launching the LG G5 nearly a month after Samsung launched the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, was also a bad idea. And it likely cost LG quite a few sales, unfortunately. Consumers are expecting LG to release a successor to the LG V10 this fall, however there hasn’t been much in the rumor mill about an updated LG V10 just yet.