LG Shutting Down Smartphone Business: Was it Long Time Coming?

Since the Nexus days, LG has been famous for bringing innovations in smartphone technology. That has continued to their last flagship, the LG V60. It was a smartphone that came with flagship features at a mid-range price. The phone even looked promising. Then why does nobody want to buy LG?

What is LG?

LG, once, has been on the pinnacle of smartphone innovations. With designs like the camera module on the Nexus 5X and the refreshing design on the Nexus 5, LG has always tried to keep it fresh. Even the Operating System is very close to stock android. All of this was offered at a reasonable and consumer friendly price. These factors seem to be working in LG's favor, then what went wrong?

The Competition

Taking LG's last phone into consideration, the V60. It can be compared to the Samsung Galaxy S20 or S20 plus. Both of them have the same chipset, 8K video, Stereo Speakers. Samsung seems to have a better display but LG compensates for that giving better battery and a headphone jack. Even though the Samsung phone is still around $700, the LG phone  can be bought for around $400. Then how does Samsung speed rapidly towards more success and market share and LG just has to shut down?

Looking back at most of LG's phones, it can be noticed and determined that their choice of features is not very cohesive. It looks more like a random collection of features and choices without any real goal. Brands like Apple and Samsung, no matter how much you love or hate them, come with a brand identity. There can be many things that speak to you as a consumer. It can be the unboxing experience, the designs of the phone or just the look and feel of it. Even Sony seems to be recovering in the smartphone market by making their phones photography focused.

The Issue With LG

With LG it is hard to put a finger on the identity of the company. Every new smartphone comes with a new feature which looks like LG is just trying things and seeing what works for them. It is not a good strategy for an already competitive market. They have had phones with secondary display, phones with modular properties, curved phones and even phones that unlock with your palm.

LG was one of the first companies to come out with ultra-wide lens, the first company to bring manual video mode  and also one of the first companies to bring in a Quad HD display and Laser Auto Focus. All of this did work in the company's favor but rather than sticking to what they did good, they just kept doing.

The Result

As a result of all the hit and trial, the company is now shutting down the production of its smartphones completely. The phones will be available for sale till June but there has been no announcement of any stock clearance sale from LG's side.

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