LG Looking to Shut Down Smartphone Business After Failing to Find a Buyer

LG is looking to close down its entire smartphone division after failing to find a buyer for the ailing section of its business, according to the Korea Herald.

LG Rollable
In January, LG announced that it was considering options for an exit from the smartphone industry, "including sale, withdrawal and downsizing." Though LG was once the world's third-largest smartphone maker and a sizeable competitor to Apple in the industry, the company's smartphone business has seen declining shipments and accrued losses of $4.5 billion over the past five years, leading to the need for an urgent re-evaluation of the division.

LG reportedly entered talks with Vietnam's Vingroup and automaker Volkswagen about purchasing the company's smartphone business, but negotiations did not lead to an agreement. Although the decision has yet to be confirmed, industry insiders report that LG is now likely to shut down its smartphone business instead of selling it. A source speaking to the Korea Herald explained:

LG reportedly had talks with others over the sale of the unit but apparently there was not much progress in their negotiations. It seems that selling its entire mobile business appears to be difficult at this moment, as is the partial sale of the unit.

With LG's internal restructuring plan now reaching its conclusion and no buyer having been found, the company is said to be leaning toward cutting its losses by closing the smartphone division fully.

LG's recently announced smartphone projects, such as "Rainbow" and "Rollable," are believed to have been scrapped, as the company looks to utilize its existing mobile workforce elsewhere in the business, such as the vehicle component solutions division.

LG is expected to publicize the decision about its smartphone business unit next month after a board meeting.

Tag: LG

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
replay all time playlist apple music

Apple Music Debuts All-New Personalized Playlist

Monday June 30, 2025 7:16 am PDT by
As part of its 10-year celebrations of Apple Music, Apple today released an all-new personalized playlist that collates your entire listening history. The playlist, called "Replay All Time," expands on Apple Music's existing Replay features. Previously, users could only see their top songs for each individual calendar year that they've been subscribed to Apple Music, but now, Replay All...

Top Rated Comments

mtneer Avatar
56 months ago
This is terrible news. With many of the Chinese makers in the doghouse, this consolidation cannot be good for consumers.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SkippyThorson Avatar
56 months ago
Wow. This is a bigger surprise than the slaying of Palm and Blackberry. Not to mention; can't find a buyer? No other manufacturer (Samsung) of smartphones saw fit to expand their lineup or just purchase the IP? That's something.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
56 months ago

Wow. This is a bigger surprise than the slaying of Palm and Blackberry. Not to mention; can't find a buyer? No other manufacturer (Samsung) of smartphones saw fit to expand their lineup or just purchase the IP? That's something.
Maybe they wanted to sell the business and not the IP? Given the breadth of LG and the fact that they will continue to make components, etc., likely LG wants to hold onto the IP.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
56 months ago
My LG flip phones were better than Apple’s flip phones. :p
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
56 months ago
They went from boot loop to bankruptcy scoop.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Flow39 Avatar
56 months ago
Sad to see them go, but I could see the writing on the wall for awhile. The last super solid contender they had was the LG G4. After that, they had some okay phones like the V20, but nothing that would make someone buy it over one of the competitors’ products in most cases. The G2 and G3 were great phones however, and I’m a bit disappointed they couldn’t have beaten out Samsung in the race since I felt they had a better overall hardware package for the price.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)