[LG Phone Withdrawal] No More Rollables... 26 Years of History Ends from Chocolate Phone to LG Wing

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] LG Electronics' mobile business, which once ranked third in the global market with products like the 'Chocolate Phone' and 'Prada Phone,' is coming to an end after 26 years. The much-anticipated commercialization of the world's first rollable phone in the first half of this year ultimately became an unfulfilled dream.

LG Electronics' mobile phone business, confirmed to be withdrawn on the 5th, dates back to 1995. The mobile business began in 1995 with LG Information & Communications, the predecessor of the MC Business Division, and the first brand was 'Hwatong (話通).' In 2000, LG Electronics merged with LG Information & Communications, and the brand name evolved through Freeway and CION before settling on CYON. Alongside Samsung Electronics' Anycall, it dominated the Korean feature phone market and marked the beginning of a golden era that attracted global attention.

Chocolate phone

The representative feature phone that led LG CYON's golden era was the Chocolate Phone. Released in November 2005, it surpassed 10 million units sold by 2017, becoming LG Electronics' first 'ten million seller phone.' Its luxurious design reminiscent of chocolate was especially popular. Following that, the 2007 Prada Phone, despite its high price of 880,000 won, attracted attention with its large screen and ultra-lightweight design. Collaborating with the world-renowned luxury brand Prada from the planning stage, it was widely praised for elevating the image of LG Electronics' feature phones.

The golden era of feature phones, continuing with the Chocolate Phone, Shine Phone, and Prada Phone, solidified LG Electronics' reputation as a leading mobile phone manufacturer. At that time, LG held the number one market share in the U.S. CDMA market. In 2010, LG ranked third in the global mobile phone market by quarterly sales volume, following Nokia and Samsung Electronics.

The crisis for LG Electronics, which achieved consecutive success with feature phones, began with the advent of the smartphone era in the late 2000s. The success of feature phones ironically caused a delayed response to the smartphone era that began in 2009. While Apple's iPhone was creating a global sensation and Samsung Electronics was hastily preparing smartphones like the Galaxy S, LG Electronics still focused heavily on feature phones.

In June 2009, LG ambitiously launched the Arena Phone equipped with Windows OS, but the market response was poor. To recover from the Arena Phone's slump, LG released the New Chocolate Phone in September of the same year, leveraging the Chocolate Phone's reputation, but this too fell short. This contrasted sharply with competitors Apple and Samsung Electronics, who concentrated their efforts on the smartphone and tablet markets.

LG belatedly introduced the 'Optimus' series starting with the Optimus Q in June 2010, but it also underperformed. Ultimately, in August 2013, LG replaced the Optimus line with the G series. The smartphone G3, launched in 2014, sold over 10 million units, marking a brief turning point.

LG G4 and G3

However, the resurgence was short-lived. The V series introduced the following year became embroiled in defect controversies. The G5, the world's first modular smartphone and successor to the G4, faced quality issues with gaps appearing between modules.

LG Electronics eventually abandoned both the G and V series. This contrasted with Samsung Electronics and Apple, which have continued their 'Galaxy' and 'iPhone' series for over a decade. Furthermore, LG Velvet and LG Wing, launched through such brand restructuring, also failed to gain traction. Last year, LG unveiled the 'Explorer Project,' a completely new dimension of smartphone strategy, and made strenuous efforts to turn around its smartphone business, but analysts say the market leadership had already been lost.

This was directly reflected in the results. LG Electronics' MC Business Division recorded losses for 23 consecutive quarters from Q2 2015 through Q4 last year. The cumulative loss during this period reached 5 trillion won.

The usual appearance of the rollable (rollable and foldable type) smartphone unveiled by LG Electronics at the IT and home appliance exhibition 'CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2021' held at the beginning of the year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The LG Rollable, initially expected to launch in the first half of this year and regarded as LG Electronics' trump card to recover from its smartphone business slump, was ultimately discontinued along with the business closure. The rollable phone, which stirred excitement with a teaser video at CES 2021 and was anticipated as a new form factor to lead innovation in the stagnant smartphone industry for years, faced setbacks. Recently, it was confirmed that LG Electronics notified Chinese panel maker BOE, responsible for the rollable display development, to put the related project on hold, signaling difficulties in launching the rollable phone.

LG Electronics, which will withdraw from the smartphone business as of July 31, will continue producing phones until the end of May to supply products promised to carriers and other partners. Even after the mobile phone business ends, LG plans to provide sufficient after-sales service (AS) to ensure that customers and existing users do not experience inconvenience.