LG’s smartphone division lost $751 million in 2020

LG’s Mobile Communications division suffered a $751 million loss last year, the Korean company announced. LG confirmed during the announcement of the annual and quarterly figures that it would reconsider its position in the smartphone market.

The annual loss of Korean Won 841.20 billion, or USD 750.63 million, is less than that for 2019, when LG’s mobile division lost 1.01 trillion Korean Won, or USD 858.34 million. LG Mobile Communications revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020 was also 4.9 percent higher than in the same quarter of 2019, but 9.2 percent lower than in the third quarter. According to the company, this was due to shortages of 4G chipsets and disappointing sales of premium smartphones.

The continued poor numbers in smartphone sales are reason for LG to reconsider its position in that market. LG wrote this in an internal note earlier this month and the company is now making public in the presentation of its quarterly figures. LG will objectively consider its current and future competitive position and take a closer look at the price. The company says it expects that global demand for smartphones will recover to that of before the corona crisis, but that competition will also increase.

LG released the striking Wing smartphone at the end of 2020. The Rollable with a rollable screen should appear this year. LG Electronics as a whole had a good year, with a profit increase of 31.1 percent compared to 2019, mainly due to good sales of household appliances, OLED TVs and vehicle parts.