Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

LG Continues To Bleed Money, Thanks To Smartphones (engadget.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fate-of-our-mobile-divisions dept.

LG's big bet on modular smartphone G5 didn't pan out the way it wanted, and its mobile business continues to bleed money. From a report on Engadget: The final quarter of 2016 saw the company take a severe blow, actually losing $223.98 million, mostly thanks to its failing handset division. [...] The numbers are buried deep in its figures, however, revealing that the firm hawked 14.1 million units in the quarter. Operating losses, meanwhile, sunk to around $400.2 million despite "strong sales" of the V20. But any boost that the V20 offers only serves to offset the soul-sucking failure of the G5, still chewing through money long after the company began announcing its replacement.

10 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Boot-loops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Probably has something to do with their manufacturing process that led to their flagship phones (LG G4, G5, Nexus 5X) going into an infinite reboot-loop after roughly a year of use. There's a big Reddit thread about it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/nexus5x/comments/5l66de/bootloop_megathread_20/

    1. Re:Boot-loops by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I had an LG G2 a couple years ago. After 6 months owning it, the touchcreen controller or sensor stopped working. I had Rogers (My Canadian provider) replace the defective screen. After another 6 months, it did the exact same thing, but the phone was out of warranty. Both Rogers and LG refused to repair the phone. This was, and forever will be, the last LG phone I owned.

      Now I have a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and am perfectly happy with it.

  2. Availability? by wardrich86 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have an LG G5. The modules were near non-existent. I'm not even sure where you could go to buy them - were they carrier exclusives? The idea was solid, but the marketing behind it was a huge flop.

    1. Re:Availability? by fred6666 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why would anyone invest in those modules? LG should have made a pledge to support these modules, and that every future phone they release in the next 5 years will be compatible with the modules if they wanted to be trusted.
      Otherwise everybody knew these modules were going nowhere and that the G6 would not support them.

  3. Shame by balaband · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Which is really a pity - they are probably one of the last producers of phones with changeable batteries and sd card slot. My LG G3 is 2.5 years old and still going strong as day 1.

    They have succumb to the trend set by (also failed) Google ARA project which made no sense to start with.

    If anybody from the LG is reading this: keep doing what you were doing, only "modular" thing needed on the phone are battery and memory card. Keep the headphone jack, keep the excellent build quality and do as minimal changes as you must to the original android UI.

    There is a lot of us that don't want flashy gimmicks with money to spend and less and less options to choose. Be smart.

    1. Re:Shame by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      My previous phone was an LG, and whereas I loved it, it didn't last over 2 years for me. It was great for about two years, then I would get ghost touches, a deadspot that wouldn't respond to any touches, and it started turning off if anyone texted me and I had 15% or less battery left.

      That last one was bizarre, if I had 15% or less power and someone sent me a text... zip- phone turned off. Before the two year anniversary phone was great though and I had full intention to buy another because it went 2 years without a problem. Went with a Motorola instead, and I'm really enjoying that so far.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Shame by houstonbofh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, he is pointing out that the majority of producers are going a specific direction, and there is a large market of people that do not want to go there. The problem for LG is that much of that market now buys cheap China off brand phones because they have removable standard batteries, lots of ports, and stock Android.

  4. Why build what people won't pay for? by sjbe · · Score: 2

    Which is really a pity - they are probably one of the last producers of phones with changeable batteries and sd card slot. My LG G3 is 2.5 years old and still going strong as day 1.

    Which might tell you something about how little most customers care about those features. Nothing wrong with those features but they add cost and if people aren't willing to pay extra for them then there is no point in building them into the product.

    If anybody from the LG is reading this: keep doing what you were doing, only "modular" thing needed on the phone are battery and memory card. Keep the headphone jack, keep the excellent build quality and do as minimal changes as you must to the original android UI.

    Keeping doing what they are doing is what got them into this situation in the first place. Obviously whatever they are doing isn't what customers are willing to pay for so they need to do something else. Exactly what that is I don't pretend to know.

  5. Revenue is easy. Profits not so much. by sjbe · · Score: 2

    Operating losses, meanwhile, sunk to around $400.2 million despite "strong sales" of the V20.

    This is a fancy way of saying you can generate a lot of revenue selling $2 bills for $1. Just because they sell a lot of something doesn't mean they are selling it at a price that is profitable. If the only way you can move a lot of product is to sell it below cost then it's probably a good idea to get out of that market.

  6. Not delivering hot devices by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 2

    That's what happens when a company does not deliver hot devices. Those that come up with explosive handsets are doing much better. Indeed, they have rekindled the public's interest, with their money now burning a hole in their pockets. Such fiery companies are searing the competition.