LG’s 2020 financial report shows Mobile division is still burning cash

29 January 2021
It remains to be seen how LG will fix its financial struggles.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • g3U
  • 30 Jan 2021

Blind Freddy could tell you, Lg's problem is :

1.Appaling marketing, imagine buying a Velvet in Aus and finding out you cant buy the dual screen accessory anywhere....seriously you call that marketing?
2. Wasteful of resources, while I commend on the wing and Rollables, but why spend so much and not consolidating existing product lines, simple software updates to Dual Sims and you cold market them globally, US and Korea is Not the entire world.
3. Poor record of software updates preventing many from buying LG fones.

So many people I know, wanted an good dual screen like the V60 but could Never could get one; as silly billy only releases them in US predominantly only, how could LG sell more phones when it does not even market them globally?
LG spends heaps of money on R&D for new product....what for? nobody wants to pay max for an LG Rollable (will be pricey and any gurantee of software updates?) or Wings (huge price tags for mediocre SD765G...seriously? ).

1. why dont LG market the existing good products such the Dual Screens velvet and V60 and make them available globally and Dual Sim a must please, it is an essential feature selling in Asia especially, which still has a huge market that is largely untapped by LG.
Benn dying to buy a V60s Dual Sim but nowhere to be found...... Why?? ....makes no sense at all, minor adjustment to software even with e-sim/hybrid sim and you could sell tons of them globally in Asia and Europe; and also please fix your poor software updates by promising buyers you will get them roll out for at least 2 major updates and I promise you will see the sales volume sky rocket.

    • S
    • Sri vathsan
    • u1C
    • 30 Jan 2021

    I am using LG G7 thinq +.. from the day 1, I luv this and still delighted with its performance.

    Pros
    Hardware
    New features
    Manual video etc

    Cons
    Software updates
    And UI

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 7k3
      • 30 Jan 2021

      The hardware is good for the price. But when comes to software updates lg fails. If they improve their software and ui and frequent updates they will get their plane on smartphone sector. But competing with brands like samsung and xiaomi they have to bring the budget devices globally. I own lg g8x and it's so good. Thanks to lg discount sale i bought it for affordable price.

        • T
        • Techphile012
        • M@g
        • 30 Jan 2021

        I have been trying to get hold of a LG V60 ThinQ with the dual screen but it is not possible to buy one in Sweden.
        If it is ordered from the USA then it will become way more expensive for me because of the custom duties imposed on it.
        I tried to buy it from Poland as they have this 256GB variant but they don't ship to Sweden.
        I am left with no option 🥺 and recommend LG to launch the LG V70 with the quad DAC in Sweden.
        I will be more than happy to buy the phone if it is competitvely priced just like the LG V60 ThinQ was priced. Hope this reaches the LG team!

          • D
          • AnonD-909757
          • pZV
          • 30 Jan 2021

          Anonymous, 30 Jan 2021Dude, some of your points are wrong. In my location, on... moreBy what standard?

          You didn't understand, when I mean Global, I don't mean to send units down to stores, I mean to make those phones with bands unlocked and allow shipping worldwide, that's a huge difference.

          Total BS, look at cars, they are the embodiment of that, and each car cost significantly more than a smartphone to produce, it also takes longer, require more resources, the production line are massively more space consuming, same goes for the power, yet you have a lot of different cars, from SUV, sedans, coupé, sport cars, trucks, hatchback, and many more.
          You clearly didn't get the branching out-in concept, many things don't need to be searched twice, once you have your blueprint for X or Y tech it is minor investment or sometime almost no investment at all to include it to another model.
          In fact, by making a modular body ready to accept various configuration, you save money, as you can make totally different models out of the same body, exactly like many graphic cards are build on the same model, or many cars share the same frame.
          Making variation of the same model is then quite easy and cheap, it also allows streamlining software updates as many common things are re-used, the same for many softwares, like the camera app.
          Actually they cancelled it so much that they constantly try to revive it, and while they abandoned the Alpha as it is they still haven't given up on the idea, with recently a new wrap around evolution in the Mi Mix line planned :
          https://www.androidauthority.com/xiaomi-sliding-screen-1195501/
          Even Huawei is on it :
          https://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-wrap-around-display-1157752/
          The Mi Mix Alpha simple came up too early when flexible displays were not mastered yet, curved edge were barely started, and it was simply too complex to mass produce.
          Also, where did I say every phone should be made to that extreme?
          I simply talked about bezel, pop up, flip up, slider. Flat/Curved edge variety, of course if you go to talk to extreme things you'll find stuff that aren't viable.
          And as long as it is profitable, what is the problem? That's because of people like you that 15.000 people would be unable to find their dream device, because of the smartphone homogenous market without any variety you are supporting.

          Wrong, if it is done properly, meaning using standards to make the newer body compatible with the previous and newer X or Y feature (camera configuration A, camera configuration B, front camera configuration C or D, etc), you actually save money and only need to improve the components without requiring to rethink totally how to make them again.
          What you are saying is as if at each new PC motherboard generation, we needed to remake the whole computer case layout, hardware arrangement and all that, of course it would be a complete nonsense to do, still, thanks to standard, there are many available configurations to be found, from the Alienware Aurora R11-727 or Corsair One a100 that use a custom case and have its own specific things but still follow standards to a simple HP 290 G2, including stuffs like ASUS ProArt Station D940MX.
          The same is true for ANY industry, except Smartphone, which is the exception in the wrong way in many cases.
          I agree for carrier exclusive phones.

          LG's need to embrace both the niche aspect as well as the mainstream aspect, the brand have too much of a niche image to do otherwise.
          Like some games have big success despite being niche, like Factorio or Satisfactory, or more fitting examples, Rover Mechanic Simulator and Kerbal Space Program have a huge success, but other things like Take On Mars was abandoned because of how it lacked success despite being exactly the same kind of niche.
          A brand image can change everything, had any other brand than Apple or Samsung removed the 3.5mm Jack, it would have failed, LG is clearly one of those brand, exactly like Sony who despite making excellent phones have a bad niche image sticking to them.
          So they need to make more mainstream phones for attracting more customers as well as making real niches by making many different of them for low cost by reusing many things in a smart way.
          There is probably more money to be earned by filling as many niches as possible as by sticking only to a single design even if it fit the trend.
          You can be perfectly profitable by making low volumes, that's how a lot of special company works, or perhaps you should postulate at Caviar.

          And what is LG? A brand who innovate.
          What was my proposal? To innovate.

            • B
            • Bend
            • p8J
            • 30 Jan 2021

            I've wanted to buy lg phones for years now but i ain't dealing with importing. Last lg phone i had was the nexus 5 and it was amazing!

            Focusing on availability and pricing is what I'd say is the most important step for lg to figure out.

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              • John
              • 7km
              • 30 Jan 2021

              If lg freesale their phone the sales will goes ul

                • K
                • Krist
                • CAy
                • 30 Jan 2021

                Just have the following points to make:
                - LG should launch globally. How can someone from Malaysia (in Asia) import an LG V50 with dual screen all the way from US? Can LG give a response to this, a phone made in S.Korea in Asia.
                - LG should dissociate from carriers and open LG shops and target small smartphone retailers.
                - At this stage, they should suspend some of their other phones like the K and Q series and concentrate on the V and G series. In the future, they can bring back the K and Q series.
                This is just all I have to say. Their Marketing department should get to work and bring more innovative ideas to sell their phones. They can hire me if they want, cos I know I can help their smartphone department.

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                  • Fonz
                  • sxs
                  • 30 Jan 2021

                  My LG v30 is slowing down hope LG would improve their update on their phones..

                    Here's an idea for LG: Sell the phones to more countries. There are a lot of people out there who secretly want to own an LG phone but never been able to do that because of no official market release. I myself had to import my V50 with DualScreen case to Malaysia all the way from the USA, and it's the same story with my friend's recently-bought Wing 5G. That's not a good sign if you ask me.

                      • K
                      • Kame
                      • uQ5
                      • 30 Jan 2021

                      I am a LOYAL LG HP user. When can u launch Lg G9? or any better LG hp? My G6 already cant hold on. 4th yr coming

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                        • Alex
                        • srr
                        • 30 Jan 2021

                        With endeavors such as the dual screen accessory which was a grand flop, or the LG wing, which was an overpriced edge case, or the LG rollable which will never see the light of day, no wonder LG is diving deeper and deeper into this moneypit. They began the dive when they decided to stop selling their flagships in Europe (which has a bigger population than the US) and only sell them in US and only via carriers. No one understands why. Meanwhile people in other countries found alternatives while LG was hunting unicorns on the hill, doing R&D for the wing, instead of developing a relevant flagship, the way Samsung innovated this year with variable refresh rate, etc.

                          LG's mobile marketing plan is a disaster and main thing here is LG do not follow current market trend. People want a simple and refresh phone not like wings and all scrap. Why people will rotate their device if they get big display. LG's pricing is another disaster. LG simply does not go for Global launch. LG seriously look for someone, who know how mobile marketing works around the globe. You can not grow your business if you do not want to sell your product.

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                            • Babun
                            • uRF
                            • 30 Jan 2021

                            LG use to be a good phone maker i still have mine LG 4 with me work perfect fine and now i using V30 also work fine after that with me.Till now still waiting LG V60 still not here in Singapore.What a sad day.
                            LG should go back to their LG G series again.

                              Daddidoo, 30 Jan 2021The bootloop fiasco kill lgYes, and they never apologized or compensated the affected.

                              Then they moved the G series from high end to middle class, they concentrated on gimmicky features nobody uses.

                              added ThinQ or whatever stupid name.



                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • HX%
                                • 30 Jan 2021

                                Anonymous, 30 Jan 2021LG, how can you sell a phone if someone can't BUY it??... moreI'm up for an upgrade now. I did my research and v60 is perfect for me. I'm in Australia I simply can't get it here. Why?

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • p2d
                                  • 30 Jan 2021

                                  LG, how can you sell a phone if someone can't BUY it??

                                  Where's the GLOBAL V60, LG??

                                    The bootloop fiasco kill lg

                                      Just exit the mobile industry already, LG. I know they've been wanting out for years. HTC and LG were innovative in the 2010s. But being innovative seems to sink companies and reward the copycats with big marketing budgets.

                                      My favorite phone of all-time is the maligned LG G5. Still works perfectly even if it's on Nougat. One of the last to offer removable battery next to V20 that I also owned. But it introduced wide-angle camera in 2016 which is now often imitated.

                                      HTC One M7 and LG G5 are innovative legends to me.

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                                        • Traveler
                                        • u7V
                                        • 30 Jan 2021

                                        LG, king of all useless gimmick.

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