No More LG Smartphones, but There Will be Updates to Android 12
Reports from earlier this year have been confirmed. LG is withdrawing from the smartphone market. The Korean tech giant announced the decision yesterday. However, it was promised that existing models will receive an update to Android 11 or even 12.
It's happened. After years of competing in the mobile market, LG has decided to throw in the towel. Yesterday, the Korean company announced the closure of the department responsible for the design and production of new smartphones.
The short message reads:
"LG’s strategic decision to exit the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector will enable the company to focus resources in growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart homes, robotics, artificial intelligence and business-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services.
LG will provide service support and software updates for customers of existing mobile products for a period of time which will vary by region. LG will work collaboratively with suppliers and business partners throughout the closure of the mobile phone business. Details related to employment will be determined at the local level."
Rumors that the Korean giant might pull out of the mobile market surfaced earlier this year. It was no secret that LG has massive financial problems with mobile devices, and phones bring the corporation large losses, (as much as 4.5 billion dollars for the last 6 years). Competition in the form of rapidly growing Chinese brands was one of the nails in the manufacturer's coffin. LG tried to fight for its position with innovative proposals, such as relatively new models: LG Wing, betting on a different approach to the folding screen, and LG Rollable, which enabled users to unroll it.
The department responsible for mobile devices is to be closed by July 31st, butLG assures that smartphones will continue to receive system support, namely updates to Android 11, and in the future some models are to receive even version 12. However, The Verge notes that the company's promises may not find cover in reality. So far, all we've received are general assurances without any tangible details, and the company's handling of updates varied in quality:
"Unfortunately, LG wasn’t very reliable with updates even prior to its decision to get out of the phone business; OS upgrades came slowly, even for flagship devices. In 2018, the company attempted to remedy this by setting up a Software Upgrade division, but when it came time to offer Android 9 Pie updates in early 2019, not much had actually changed."
Despite the many misguided ideas and decisions, we will miss the smartphones from LG that stood out from the mass of similar devices. If you used, or continue to use phones from the Korean manufacturer, you can symbolically say goodbye to the brand in the comments.
