LG’s Hai Phong smartphone factory for sale

A Business Korea report says the South Korean electronics giant has decided to terminate its loss-making mobile phone production and sales business and is taking steps to close down production plants.

However, it has not been able to find buyers for the Hai Phong factory that produces about 10 million smartphones annually, about half of the company’s output.

The report says Vietnamese smartphone makers already have their own facilities and local firms can’t afford to pay more than 100 billion won ($89.2 million) for LG’s factory.

If LG is not able to sell the factory as a whole, it might consider selling the plant site, the report adds.

LG’s smartphone division has been posting losses totaling some $4.5 billion over the last five years. The group has said that dropping out of the fiercely competitive smartphone business would allow it to focus on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices and smart homes.