LG has decided to pull out of its smartphone business. It’s the end of an era. Many functions that we take for granted on our smartphones have been developed by LG.
They rolled out the first capacitive touchscreen. They introduced us to slow motion video recording, but with market share dwindling and losses increasing, they had no choice but to close the store.
Crazy displays, ultra-wide cameras, gesture controls, LG did it all.
And they did it, way ahead of their rivals.
Apple can’t stop bragging about its stainless steel frames. This is old news for LG because they did it in 2015.
When Sony and Apple switched their screen brightness in 2014, LG introduced Quad High Definition, four times Standard HD, etc. LG had managed to conjure up magic in its screens.
Everyone wanted to own one. Until 2013, it was the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world.
But then it went south. The market became more competitive. Apple and Samsung made long-lasting phones. Devices suitable for our multitasking life. LG just couldn’t keep up. The phones were struggling with hardware and software problems. Users got tired of staring at the buffer bezel. You have left LG. In the last 6 years the losses have increased.
LG bleeded roughly $ 4.5 billion in that period. They shipped 28 million phones compared to Samsung’s 256 million. It was time to call it a day. LG initially tried to sell its smartphone business. No luck, nobody wanted to bet on a sinking ship. So they closed the shop instead. It left an industry behind and helped build it up. But we haven’t heard the last from LG. By far not. You still have a thriving consumer goods business. You’re the second best TV brand in the world.
The company plans to focus more on robotics and artificial intelligence. It’s a bold new era for the Korean giant, but LG’s fall is a commentary on our time. The markets change every two weeks. Consumers’ tastes depend on the next advertisement they see. Market dominance is no longer absolute. It’s a game of musical chairs.
The smartphone industry is known as a giant killer. Companies deemed too big to fall were shunned on the fringes of the market. Do you remember Nokia and Motorola?
Pioneers reduced to poor. Loyal customers are an overrated concept. Today’s more than loyal customers are smart. They traded Yahoo for Gmail and Orkut for Facebook.
In the 90s and 2000s, blockbuster video dominated video rentals, games, and movies. They had it all.
In 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. They missed the digital bus. In 2000, Blockbuster turned down an offer from Netflix, a then little-known company.
Then there was Polaroid, the pioneers of instant photography. They basked in their initial success while DSLRs scooped their customers off.
The aviation industry is another giant killer. Big guns like Pan Am and Concorde revolutionized flying, but they soon fell into disrepair.
Remember the first business rule. The customer is always right. Your message is clearer today than ever before. Be innovative or die. LG’s bag of tricks couldn’t hide its slow processors in this highly competitive world. The only constant is change.
