We asked, you told us: Most of you think LG shouldn't sell its mobile unit

LG’s mobile business has been a shadow of its former self for a while now, although the company is still capable of delivering great flagships like the LG V60 and unique form factors like the LG Wing.

Phones like these might not be enough to turn the smartphone unit’s business around though, and we’ve now heard numerous rumors that a sale or other drastic move is being considered. So that got us wondering whether Android Authority readers think LG should sell this business unit.

Should LG sell its smartphone business?

Results

We posed this question on January 20, 2021, and 1,512 votes were tallied as of writing. The results show that just over 60% of respondents are against the idea of LG selling its smartphone business. Some users think LG should focus on specific segments, beef up their marketing, and/or expand availability instead.

It’s easy to see why readers would vote against a sale, as the firm has made solid flagships for a while now, while its marketing budget has been dwarfed by the likes of Samsung for years too. We’ve also seen devices like the LG Wing and its upcoming rollable, showing that the firm is still thinking outside the box.

Meanwhile, just under 40% think the Korean company should indeed sell off its smartphone business. This is a pretty understandable choice too, given that the mobile division has seen losses for over 20 consecutive quarters. At this point, we wouldn’t blame LG if it decided to get out of the game.

Comments

Tony Talks: There’s no need to eliminate it completely but they do have to downsize significantly. Just release one killer phone that will really attract customers and brings excellent value. And make a serious overhaul in software, like the old Oneplus software. That will definitely increase the chances within 4 years time.
Wongwatt: Honestly, I voted yes because if LG are questioning it’s value and are already notoriously bad at release policy and updates how will it ever get better?
LG phones are solid devices hampered by the company that makes them, I don’t necessarily think it will get better under a new owner but it’s hard to see it being worse.
Farhan Ahmad Tajuddin: What LG really should do is ramp up the marketing and give more availability to more regions. Eventhough Sony smartphones are not as cheap as the Chinese counterpart, at least they do have a lot of market availability. Even I myself have to import a V50 with DualScreen case all the way from the USA to Malaysia. Same story with a friend of mine who recently got his Wing 5G. That’s not a good sign.
pda96: LG should just focus on mid range phones and forget about flagships. This is a hot segment right now. LG dropped the ball a long time ago with slow OS updates and boot looping issues. They didn’t listen to customers. As a result, they didn’t offer what the market was asking for. So sales tanked. I would love to buy LG instead of Samsung. And I will miss LG if it disappears.
roaduardo: Fair enough reason not to buy any new LG phones for now. Dunno that I’d want to invest in buying a phone from a company that’s not serious about its support moving forward.
Jimbo: I prefer the LG phones. I’m still using my V30+ which is the most durable phone I’ve ever had. Motorolas will just die in 2 years. Samsungs too. My wife is on her 3rd Samsung by necessity while my LG keeps on rolling.
Adrian: Sad news. Here I thought I was going to update my V30 this year with the V70. The 3 main things I look for in a smartphone will be gone; affordability, sd expansion, headphone jack and fingerprint scanner
Diego: I really wish they’d have done better. I myself went out looking for a phone around $200 where LG is supposed to be a key player and found out the UI is outdated, the camera set up is lackluster (specially compared to Xiaomi and Motorola) and terrible screens. Why is it so hard to make a good phone? Be competitive or really just call it quits, but it’s so terrible since Android has become Samsung + Chinese makers.

That’s it for this poll results article, thanks for voting and for submitting your comments! What do you make of the results as well as the prospect of LG selling its smartphone unit? Give us your thoughts below.