Why LG stopped making smartphones
LG, the Korean electronics group, was one of the smartphone market’s first movers. Now it has joined a group of has-beens, such as Nokia. Matthew Partridge reports
Korean electronics company LG is giving up on making smartphones after it admitted that it can’t cope with increasingly intense competition, says James Titcomb in The Daily Telegraph. The news is a major milestone as LG was an early mover in the mobile market, beginning production in 1995 and later pioneering the use of a touchscreen even before Apple launched the iPhone. While its market share peaked in 2009, even in 2013 it was still the world’s third-biggest mobile-phone manufacturer. LG’s departure adds to a growing “graveyard” of phone makers such as Nokia, BlackBerry and Motorola, which previously dominated the industry before falling away.
A penchant for gimmicks
While the Korean giant’s devices have “dwindled in popularity”, retaining barely a 2% share of the market, the halt to production still triggered an “outpouring of nostalgia on social media”, says Michelle Toh on CNN. Fans suggest that while LG wasn’t always successful, the company deserved some credit for its “willingness to innovate”, with some arguing that it was responsible for features that have since become mainstream, such as “ultrawide cameras”.
Nonsense, says Ron Amadeo on Ars Technica. The simple fact is that its phones “were never good” as the company “ping-ponged” between “building exactly what Samsung was building – but with less marketing and brand recognition”, and “unappealing gimmick phones with no rationale behind them”. The latter included “stinkers” such as the LG G Flex in 2013, where “the entire body was shaped like a banana for no reason at all”. What’s more, LG often alienated customers with “poor build-quality” and “shoddy craftsmanship”.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
More broadly, LG has suffered from the fact that the smartphone industry has become bifurcated, say Kwanwoo Jun and Timothy Martin in The Wall Street Journal. On the one hand, “high-end” devices from Apple and Samsung “can fetch $1,000 or more” thanks to the sheer power of their brands. On the other,“lower-end firms “selling handsets for just several hundred dollars have eked out profits by outsourcing the engineering and design work”. LG’s phones were in the latter category – yet its other products, such as flat-screen televisions and kitchen appliances, “compete with the top players” for cash-rich buyers. It made sense to ditch the struggling phones and focus on the top of the market in other areas.
The move is a victory for investors who called for the company to “wind down” the smartphone business, says Song Jung-a in the Financial Times. They said it constituted a “misallocation of resources”, weighing on LG’s market value despite “robust sales” of premium home appliances and televisions: the mobile-phone business “has posted cumulative losses of nearly $4.5bn over the past five years”. Free of the burden, LG is expected to shift more of its resources to the “fast-growing” electric-vehicle components business.
Sign up to Money Morning
Our team, led by award winning editors, is dedicated to delivering you the top news, analysis, and guides to help you manage your money, grow your investments and build wealth.
Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.
He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.
Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.
As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri
-
Nationwide hikes FlexPlus current account fee by £5 a month – is it worth it?
Nationwide’s FlexPlus current account is a favourite with customers, but it’s worth checking whether you are taking advantage of the perks after the monthly fee went from £13 to £18
By Katie Williams Published
-
Santander launches online pension that offers up to £1,000 cashback
Santander's self-invested personal pension offers customers cashback of up to £1,000 if they invest before 25 April next year - here is everything you need to know
By Chris Newlands Published
-
Is now the time to buy Marshalls?
Former market darling Marshalls, a landscaping and building products supplier, looks too cheap. Is it time to buy this once-admired stock?
By Jamie Ward Published
-
Top UK stocks with healthy cash flows and dividend yields
Three promising UK stocks according to Alan Dobbie, co-manager, Rathbone Income Fund
By Alan Dobbie Published
-
Warren Buffet invests in Domino’s – should you buy?
What makes Domino's a compelling investment for Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, and should you buy the UK-listed takeaway pizza chain?
By Dr Matthew Partridge Published
-
4Imprint makes a strong impression – should you buy?
4Imprint, a specialist in marketing promotional products, is the leader in a fragmented field
By Dr Mike Tubbs Published
-
Invest in Glencore: a cheap play on global growth
Glencore looks historically cheap, yet the group’s prospects remain encouraging
By Rupert Hargreaves Published
-
How to save the dying UK stock market
The UK stock market is in long-term decline. To fix that, we must first recognise why equity markets exist and who they should serve
By Bruce Packard Published
-
Should you invest in Trainline?
Ticket seller Trainline offers a useful service – and good prospects for investors
By Dr Matthew Partridge Published
-
Key takeaways from the MoneyWeek Summit 2024: Investing in a dangerous world
If you couldn’t get a ticket to MoneyWeek’s summit, here’s an overview of what you missed
By MoneyWeek Published