As most of you know by now, a report surfaced yesterday, claiming that LG may exit the smartphone market. The report came from The Korea Herald, and was based on the CEO’s memo to its employees. Well, we’ve reached out to LG for a comment, and the company’s Senior Director, Ken Hong, provided one, and decided to calm things down.
LG’s senior director calms things down following a recent report regarding possible sale of smartphone business
He said the following: “LG Electronics management is committed to exploring a variety of options in light of the headwinds facing our mobile business. Currently nothing has been finalized and commenting further would only be speculation. We will be in touch if and when there is news to share.”
Mr. Hong obviously wants to calm things down, as nothing has been finalized yet. Things have been blown out of proportion, it seems, as the report was based on a memo from the company’s CEO.
The company’s Senior Director points out that LG is exploring a variety of options, as LG’s mobile business has been struggling for years now. As pointed out in the report, the company’s smartphone business lost about 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) over the last 5 years.
It’s only natural that the company is looking to improve things after such losses. LG could easily just restructure things in order to turn a profit, or make some new partnerships. Those options are probably even more possible than the sale of the company’s smartphone business.
Nothing has been decided just yet
We can only guess what will happen at this point, but it seems like nothing has been decided, not even close. The main goal of the CEO’s memo was to ensure its employees that they won’t lose their jobs.
The company’s CEO, Kwon Bong-seok, was clear about that. If any changes take place in the company’s mobile business, its employees will simply be shifted around, to different parts of the company.
LG Electronics is much bigger than just smartphones. The company is manufacturing all kinds of products, including TVs, air conditioners, and much more. These are only some examples. Many parts of the company’s portfolio are highly profitable.
Another report surfaced today, alleging that LG Electronics is in talks with Vingroup from Vietnam. That company seems to be interested in getting LG’s smartphone business. LG or its execs did not comment on it yet. The report comes from Business Korea.
The bottom line is, we’ll have to wait for more information to come. LG execs have a lot to talk about, it seems.