LG to reportedly stop producing smartphones in home country of South Korea

LG plans to suspend the manufacture of smartphones at its plant in South Korea, according to a Reuters report. The report also states that LG will move manufacturing to its plant in Vietnam.

The original information comes from an unknown source at the Yonhap News Agency and alleges that the measure is to help reduce the cost of manufacturing and change the smartphone division of the company, which has been suffering losses for several quarters.

The information is not entirely unexpected. LG has been receiving an increasingly lukewarm response for its smartphone launches. At the lower end of the market, cheaper Chinese competitors have been eating LG lunch for the past few years and at the other end of the market, LG never managed to get out of the shadow of Samsung. The company's latest LG G8 has been one of the most disappointing releases of the year despite its technical skills.

It seems unlikely that LG will exit the smartphone market altogether in the near future, but may choose to exit some markets in the near future.
VIA