At one Time, the news about LG “OEM” for Apple’s research and development of foldable screen phone is very much in the news, and there is even news that Apple can launch its own foldable screen phone this year. However, LG has such technical capabilities, but it can’t do anything about its own cell phone business. All signs indicate that LG’s own cell phone business is estimated to come to an end.
News from Korean media indicates that LG Electronics may shut down its smartphone business. South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo quoted an anonymous source in the electronics industry as saying that LG Electronics may shut down its smartphone business rather than sell it. In other words, LG did not find a suitable next Home to take over its cell phone business, and had no choice but to close it.
Previously, LG Electronics CEO Kwon Bang-seok said in January that all options are on the table for the loss-making business. LG said, “In the global market, competition in the mobile business (including smartphones) is getting fiercer. We are now open to all possibilities and are thoroughly reviewing our future plans.” The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said Sunday that LG has shelved plans to launch all new smartphones in the first half of the year.
For LG, shutting down its cell phone business is not a better option. Since the next home can not be found, then the closure can also reduce the loss; you know, LG’s cell phone business has lost five trillion in five years. Some related media reports said that LG’s mobile business division has suffered 23 consecutive quarters of losses starting from the second quarter of 2015 and ending in the fourth quarter of 2020, with an accumulated loss of 5 trillion won, equivalent to nearly 30 billion yuan.
In 2019, LG outsourced the production of its low-end smartphone business, indicating that it had already given up on the cell phone business, but the market has been bad and it could not find a suitable buyer to take over, so LG has been dragging its feet hoping for a turnaround. But by 2021, the market landscape has changed some more, but LG’s cell phone business is not back to the trend. In this regard, Sony and LG’s market positioning is similar, how the future development of Sony’s cell phone business is not expected to have a good home.
Today’s market situation is not what it used to be, when the market was “chaotic”, LG did not grab enough share, and now in the 5G era, the market space left for LG is very little, including in the Korean market, LG’s market position is deteriorating; even Samsung’s market position is not secure. Even Samsung’s market position is not secure. Apple’s ability to expand in the global market, especially after huawei suffered crowding, Apple’s market position is more secure.
In fact, LG divested the cell phone business, concentrating on the layout of the OLED screen, is not a positive plan for the development of strategy. It is reported that Apple’s next-generation iPhone 13 series of cell phones, will use the low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistor (TFT) OLED panel provided by Samsung. And market sources say that Apple’s iPhone 13 will have four models, all of which will use OLED panels. The first two models will use LTPO OLEDs that can support 120Hz refresh rate. at one time, market sources also said that LG Display will not be able to provide LTPO OLEDs to Apple this year, but it is under development and is expected to supply to Apple in 2022. If LG can speed up the development of technical capabilities to market earlier, then it will also gain more opportunities, after all, LG’s own cooperation with Apple has been good, Apple is also supporting LG Display. moreover, Apple plans to use LTPO OLED in all iPhone models launched in the second half of 2022.
If LG seizes the opportunity to get more share in the OLED panel, then it doesn’t matter if it closes its cell phone business. Previously, it was also announced that LG Display has decided to increase the production of E6-1 and E6-2 production lines in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, which is called “Apple Line”. LG plans to expand the LTPO thin film transistor processing equipment to 25K wafers per month. Even, LG has planned E6-3, LTPO OLED substrate capacity of 15,000 pieces per month.
In addition, LG Display had requested its participation in LTPO for iPhone 13, and Apple accepted the request. It is advantageous for Apple to let LG Display get the LTPO OLED technology so that it can reduce its dependence on Samsung Display. Moreover, the Apple Watch Series5 and Series6 models already use LTPO displays, which help a lot with battery Life. Therefore, for LG, what is the harm of leaving out cell phones if it puts more effort on this business?
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