LG obviously no longer really believes in its ability to influence the smartphone market. The brand has lost significant market share in recent years and could sell this business.
Vingroup would be the best placed to buy LG’s smartphone business, according to a credible rumor from BusinessKorea. The Vietnamese group is a mastodon in its country, it indeed represents a total of 15% of the capitalization on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange! The conglomerate, with a very wide range of action (from hotels to tourism and mass distribution) wants to make a name for itself in the mobile sector.
Vingroup’s appetite
Vingroup started this new activity in 2018, producing smartphones on behalf of… LG. It is the third manufacturer in Vietnam, behind Samsung and Oppo. An acquisition of the Korean manufacturer would allow Vingroup to make a significant leap in the world market, and especially in the United States where LG still weighs heavily (nearly 13% of the American market). In France, on the other hand, the manufacturer has stopped selling its smartphones for almost two years.
If Vingroup would suddenly gain significant market share, the company would also benefit from the talents of LG’s mobile division, known for its original designs and distinctive choices in terms of features (such as the Wing with its two screens). Without forgetting the acquisition of an assembly line broken up to mass production.
According to BusinessKorea, Vingroup would have made the most attractive offer, but the LG boss said nothing has yet been decided on the future of the group’s mobile division. It may also be a way to raise the stakes. For the anecdote, the rumor ran in 2019 that Vingroup was interested in the French company Archos.
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