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Alibaba

Alibaba says it does not expect any material impact from the $2.75 billion antitrust fine.

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China’s biggest business conglomerate, Alibaba Group is not expecting any material impact in business and from merchants, said Daniel Zhang, CEO of the company. Alibaba Group was charged a fine of $2.75 billion for its powerful market dominance in the nation. The company is going through a giant turmoil and disturbance with the Chinese government since last year.

In October 2020, Alibaba Group’s founder Jack Ma openly criticized the Chinese regulatory system. And since then Alibaba Group has been put under strict scrutiny and faced antitrust charges. Alibaba Group has significantly improved the economic system of China through its growing and flourishing business, but the open criticism against the Chinese government is coming with a heavy price.

New Initiatives by Alibaba

Since the company has gone through strict investigations since last year, the regulatory authority will have a strong vigilance. Apart from paying the $2.75 billion antitrust fine, the company is introducing new measures to lower the entry barriers and business costs that are constantly faced by any existing or new merchants on its platform. High cost for new business is an obstacle that needs to be softened to get them a better start and opportunity. Zhang revealed the measures to be taken to lower business costs for merchants in an online conference.

Alibaba
Image Source: techzine.eu

Alibaba’s executives have made a statement that though the company has paid a huge amount of new antitrust fine and that new regulatory measures are to be followed by the company, it believes that the company has overall support from the government (Reuters). Joe Tsai, executive vice-chairman of Alibaba Group said that the government is affirmative of the business model of Alibaba.

The company executives further said that they don’t have any fundamental flaw with their business model as a platform company. The new measures will hopefully bring the turbulence between Alibaba group and the Chinese government into balance. But, it is also a major concern if anyone else criticizes the Chinese regulatory system has to go through the same strict scrutiny.

Shares Bounce

Alibaba’s share has been going down and lagging behind the overall emerging economy for some time in the past. Everbright Sun Hung Kai analyst Kenny Ng has said that now that Alibaba group is paying the penalty fee the uncertainty faced by Alibaba Group in the market will reduce. The antitrust fine along with the regulatory measures that are imposed on the company is expected to bring back Alibaba’s stock price and it will once again regain control in the market.

The antitrust fine that has been enforced on Alibaba Group is one of the highest ever antitrust penalties not only in China but across the globe. Along with the $2.75 billion penalties, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has ordered the company to make thorough rectification in order to strengthen internal compliance and protect consumer rights (Reuters). Big conglomerates like Alibaba Group often face criticism both from the government and the public due to establishing a great amount of control in the market.

Another similar example is the Australian government enforcing a law that made Facebook and Google make paid deals with local media companies of Australia. On the bright side, the government is trying to support the local media companies and in the case of Alibaba, consumer rights and internal compliance.

The new measures will likely reduce the revenue growth of Alibaba as a further expansion in the market share will be restricted. Alibaba will also face reduced profit margins in order to upgrade products and services. The company has also constrained the merchants to sell through any other platforms since 2015. This violates China’s anti-monopoly law as the free circulation of goods is hindered.

Exclusivity Issues

Alibaba will be giving the penalty and along with that, it has accepted to ensure compliance and determination. Tsai has said that apart from reviewing the company’s mergers and acquisitions so far the company doesn’t expect any further investigation. He also mentioned that apart from that he doesn’t know of any other anti-monopoly related investigation.

HMD Nokia

HMD Launches Nokia’s Six Affordable and Premium C, G, and X Series Smartphones.

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After the big ban on Chinese products from many countries, HMD, the Nokia-branded smartphone maker, is trying to dominate the smartphone industry through its new affordable smartphone lineup. The company launched six smartphones under its three different series, i.e., C, G, and X. Each series has introduced two smartphones, named as Nokia C10, Nokia C20, Nokia G10, Nokia G20, Nokia X10, and Nokia X20. HMD launched the smartphone on Thursday, April 8.

Nokia C10 and C20 Specifications

The two smartphones from the Nokia C series have got all similar features. The major difference between the two is the processor used in both. The Nokia C10 is powered by a quad-core Unisoc SC7331e SoC, whereas Nokia C20 is packed with an octa-core Unisoc SC9863a SoC. Both support 2GB of RAM. Storage-wise, C20 has got two options, i.e., 16GB and 32GB, along with the support for expansion up to 256GB via a microSD card. The Nokia C10 smartphone comes with an inbuilt storage of 32GB, which can be expanded up to 256GB.

Nokia C10 and C20 include a 6.51-inch HD+ (720×1,600 pixels) display, rendering a 20:9 aspect ratio and 400 nits of peak brightness. The display is protected with a 2D Panda Glass. Both have a single 5MP camera on the front as well as rear, along with a flashlight on both sides. Nokia C10 and C20 are 4G smartphones and offer Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2, connectivity features. Both the smartphones include a 3,000mAh battery supporting 10W charging and weigh around 191 grams, with dimensions equal to 169.9×77.9×8.8mm. These two smartphones run on Android 11 (Go edition).

HMD Nokia
Image Source: engadget.com

Nokia G10 and G20 Specifications

The HMD Nokia G10 and G20 are more powerful smartphones than the C-series phones. These two run on Android 11 and have a similar build, except for the camera and the processor. The Nokia G10 smartphone is powered by the octa-core MediaTek Helio G25 SoC, whereas the G20 smartphone includes the octa-core MediaTek Helio G35 SoC processor. Both come with 4GB RAM. The Nokia G10 comes in 32GB and 64GB variants, whereas the G20 comes in 64GB and 128GB onboard storage options. Both smartphones have got dedicated SD slot for storage expansion up to 512GB.

Nokia G10 is packed with a triple rear camera setup, having a 13MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the other hand, the G20 smartphone boasts a quad-camera setup, including a 48MP primary sensor, a 5MP ultra-wide shooter, a 2MP macro shooter, and a 2MP depth sensor. Both smartphones include an 8MP front camera. The Nokia G10 and G20 have got a 6.5-inch HD+ (720×1,600 pixels) display, providing a 20:9 aspect ratio. The size of both the smartphone is also equal, i.e. 164.9×76.0x9.2mm, and both weigh around 194 grams. The Nokia G10 includes a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging, and the G20 smartphones come with a 5,050mAh battery with 10W charging.

Nokia X10 and X20 Specifications

The Nokia X10 and X20 are the most powerful smartphones of them all, having better camera setups and a more powerful processor. Display-wise, both have the 6.67-inch full-HD+ (1,080×2,400 pixels) hole-punch display rendering a 20:9 aspect ratio and 450 nits of peak brightness. Both the smartphones are shipped with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 SoC and provide support for up to 8GB of RAM.

The Nokia X10 and X20 have got a quad-camera setup on the rear. The X10 has got a 48MP primary sensor, a 5MP ultra-wide-angle shooter, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro shooter. On the other hand, the Nokia X20 includes a 64MP primary sensor, a 5MP ultra-wide shooter, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro shooter. The camera setups of both the smartphones feature the Zeiss optics and OZO Audio. The front camera of the Nokia X10 is an 8MP camera, and the Nokia X20 features a 32MP selfie camera.

The HMD Nokia X10 comes in the 64GB and 128GB variants, and the storage can be extended up to 512GB using an SD card, whereas the Nokia X20 is packed with 128GB of onboard storage with expansion ability up to 512GB. Both the smartphones provide support for 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity. The dimensions of the two measures 168.94×79.7×9.1mm and both weigh around 210-220 grams. Both Nokia X10 and X20 come with a 4,470mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. Also, both are IP52-rated dust and water resistance smartphones.

Price and Availability

Nokia C10 and C20 are on the affordable side. The Nokia C10 costs around EUR 79 (about Rs. 7,000) for its base model and the Nokia C20 starts at EUR 89 (around Rs. 7,900). Both the smartphones will be shipped starting from June this year to some selected markets. The Nokia C10 comes in Grey and Light Purple color options, and the Nokia C20 is available in Dark Blue and Sand colors.

The base model of the Nokia G10 starts at EUR 139 (around Rs. 12,300), whereas the starting price for the Nokia G20 price is set at EUR 159 (around Rs. 14,000). The availability of the Nokia G10 starts from April this year and will be available in two colors, i.e., Dusk and Nightshades. HMD will start shipping the Nokia G20 in May in Glacier and Night color options.

The Nokia X10 starts at EUR 309 (around Rs. 27,400), and the Nokia X20 will be available at starting price of EUR 349 (around Rs. 31,000). Nokia X10 will be available in the selected market starting from June and will have Forest and Snow color options. On the other hand, the Nokia X20 will be out in the market starting from May in Nordic Blue and Sun color variants.

Dell G15

Dell Releases its G15 Laptop Globally, Along with the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition & Dell Alienware.

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Last month, Dell launched its gaming laptop Dell G15 in China, and on Wednesday 7th April, the company launched the same laptop globally, along with other two new gaming laptops named G15 Ryzen Edition and the Dell Alienware M15 Ryzen Edition R5. The company has also launched new gaming monitors under its Spring 2021 lineup.

Dell G15 and G15 Ryzen Edition

The Dell G15 and G15 Ryzen edition has a similar look and feel, but their processors are quite different. The Dell G15 is mounted with the 10th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, whereas the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition is shipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor.

There are two variants for the screen choices in Dell G15 and the G15 Ryzen edition. The 15.6-inch display of both the laptops is a full-HD (1,920x 1,080 pixels) LED-backlit display and provides options of having a 120Hz refresh rate and 250 nits of peak brightness or a 165Hz refresh rate and 300 nits of peak brightness. There are two options of batteries for both the laptops, the 56Whr or the 86Whr battery.

Dell G15
Image Source: theverge.com

Graphics-wise also, there are options in the Dell G15. The machine can be packed with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (paired with 4GB of GDDR6 RAM) or the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (paired with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM). For Dell G15 Ryzen Edition, the company has provided only one option, i.e., Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card with 6GB of GDDR6 RAM.

The two laptops support 256GB of PCIe NVMeM.2 SSD storage that can be extended up to 2TB of PCIe NVMeM.2 SSD storage. The Dell G15 has got support for up to 32GB (2,933MHz) DDR4 RAM, whereas the Ryzen one is shipped with up to 32GB (3,200MHz) of DDR4 RAM support. The keyboards for the laptops are spill-proof full-size keyboards with a numeric keypad. These can also be upgraded to 4-zone RGB backlit keyboards.

Other than these specifications, the G15 and G15 Ryzen Edition laptops provide support for Wi-Fi 6, HDMI 2.1 port, a USB 3.2 port, two USB 2.0 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone/ mic jack. It also includes two-tune Nahimic 3D Audio speakers and a 720p webcam with a dual-array digital microphone.

The Dell G15 has three color options, i.e., Dark Shadow Grey, Phantom Grey, and Specter Green, whereas the Ryzen Edition of the same laptop will come only in two shares, i.e., Phantom Grey and Specter Green color.

Dell Alienware M15 Ryzen Edition R5

The Dell Alienware M15 Ryzen Edition R5 laptop is a more powerful laptop than the other two. It is powered by up to an AMD Ryzen 9 5800HX processor. It is shipped with a 15.6-inch QHD (2,560×1,440 pixels) display supporting a 240Hz refresh rate and 400 nits of peak brightness. The laptop has two variants for the graphics, i.e., GeForce RTX 3060 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, and supports up to 32GB of DDR4 (3,200MHz) RAM. The storage support of the laptop is up to 4TB (2x 2TB) of PCIe M.2 SSD.

The R5 laptop is shipped with an 86Whr battery and a Cherry MX ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard having the per-key AlienFX customizable lighting. The laptop includes an HD 720p webcam with dual-array microphones and provides support for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Like its other two companion laptops, the Alienware laptop consists of an ethernet port, two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm mic/headphone jack.

The Dell Gaming Monitors

Dell has launched four gaming monitors, including Dell 25, 27, 32, 34 gaming monitors. All four comes in different screen sizes. The Dell 25 variants have got a 24.5-inch full-HD IPS to display with a 240Hz refresh rate and 99 percent sRGB color coverage. The Dell 27 and 32 monitors have curved screens and are 27-inch and 32-inch in size, respectively. Both have the QHD VA displays offering a 165Hz refresh rate and 99 percent sRGB color coverage, along with a 3000:1 contrast ratio.

The Dell 34 is also a curved Gaming Monitor with a 34-inch WQHD display offering a 144Hz refresh rate and 90 percent DCI-P3 color coverage along with a 3000:1 contrast ratio. The Dell 27, 32, and 34 monitors have a 1ms (MPRT)/2ms GtG (Gray-to-Gray) response time and feature AMD FreeSync. All three come with ultra-thin bezels and have vents for heat dispensation on the back.

Pricing and Availability

 The Dell G15 is already out in the China market and is priced at $899 (around Rs. 67,000) for the base variant. After China, it will be available in the Global market starting from April 13. The Dell G15 Ryzen Edition laptop will cost $899 (around Rs. 67,000) for its base variant and will arrive in the Chinese market on April 30 and in the global market on May 4.

The Dell Alienware M15 is a more powerful laptop than the other two, so it is on the more expensive side. It will cost $1,793 (around  Rs. 1.3 lakhs) for the base variant and is already available in China starting from April 7. The laptop will reach the U.S. market on April 20, and on May 4, it will be available all around the world.

The company has not revealed the prices of its gaming monitors, but the available dates are already out. All four Gaming Monitor will be out in the Chinese market starting from May 7, and the global release of Dell 27 and the Dell 32 will be from June 22. The Dell 25 Gaming Monitor, and the Dell 34 Curved Gaming Monitor, will be available in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa on May 27, and for the rest of the countries, these two will accompany the other two monitors on June 22.

Chips

How Chips worth $1 created a Global Economic Crisis?

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We have heard how the $450 billion semiconductor industry has hit a huge global crisis in this lockdown. Due to lack of production and strain in transportation and availability, the semiconductor industry is going through a big turmoil. But, the question is what exactly sparked this crisis affecting semiconductor companies across the world? The answer to this question is a $1 dollar chip called a display driver.

Due to the shortage of chips, the business didn’t go down for semiconductor companies alone but also for big computer and smartphone companies. These small chips designed by the semiconductor industry powers the super fast and efficient computers or smartphones that make our life better. Though the range of chips designed by any company varies greatly with price, this display driver is the one that is putting the entire silicon industry in jeopardy.

Shortage of Display Drivers

A display driver is one of the many chips used in electronic gadgets. The sole purpose of this driver is to send necessary information or a set of instructions required for illuminating your mobile screen or laptop or any navigation device. Now, the main problem that has arisen in the semiconductor industry and beyond is that there aren’t enough display drivers to suffice the demand. The production units are overwhelming as the firms cannot meet the demand which on the other hand is causing the hike of price.

Chips
Image Source: in.finance.yahoo.com

The shortage of display drivers in the market has also increased the cost for liquid crystal display panels as those drivers are essential to building the same. And, spiking prices of these display panels are affecting the manufacturer of laptops, cars, televisions, airplanes, and high-end refrigerators. Even if a company has all the other necessary parts for building a product it will remain incomplete without the display driver. So, the company’s relying on a source of display drivers has its hands tight.

Situation getting Worse

Along with the global shortage of display drivers, power management chips are also lagging in production. Many automobile industries like Ford, Nissan, and Volkswagen have started scaling back their production but it is very tough to make up for the lost revenue during the pandemic. And, keeping aside the consequences of the pandemic that has caused the shortage of supply in the first place, many other unfortunate incidents are also taking place. For example, a rare winter storm in Texas has caused damage to US productions and a fire in Japan led to the shutting down of a facility for a month.

The imbalance that has been caused by one thing has led to a series of harsh events and it is a tough job to establish balance. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has said that though they are running the plants at full capacity still they cannot meet the demand. Jordan Wu, co-founder, and CEO of Himax Technologies said that “every application is short of chips” and he hasn’t witnessed anything like this in the past 20 years.

The Origin of the Crisis

The main origin of the crisis and how the situation eventually evolved is explained by Jordan Wu in a very elaborate manner. First of all, when the pandemic started with people stuck inside the house an understandable miscalculation took place. Major industries tried to predict consumer behavior on the basis of the financial crisis model. But what we witnessed was the demand for good laptops, mobiles, game consoles, and other gadgets started increasing as the lockdown started extending.

The main reason was people started working remotely and education was also shifted to an online platform. At this time the display drivers didn’t face any shortage as the automobile industries got into a long pause as people didn’t step out of their house. So, the suppliers stopped shipping chips to the automobile industry. A few months back when people again started stepping out and resuming normal life they preferred traveling in personal cars rather than public transport. This led to the sudden demand for display drivers as the demand for other electronic gadgets didn’t go down.

So, now even if the company’s push all their employees and production units to their fullest, demands cannot be met. Since the demand has hiked and there is a shortage in supply prices of many electronics are increasing. For example, the price of 50-inch LCD television doubled between January and March. With this ongoing situation, Jordan said, “We have not reached a position where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Byju's

Byju’s acquisition of Aakash Educational Services cost nearly $1 Billion.

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Byju’s has a very broad market in the E-Learning sector not only in India but in other nations as well. The online learning platforms have witnessed a major rise in demand especially with the onset of COVID-19. Since Byju’s has a strong online presence, it is aiming to expand its offline presence as well. This is one of the reasons why Byju’s acquired the offline physical coaching center company, Aakash Educational Services. Byju’s has revealed the news on Monday about acquiring the chain of these coaching centers and accelerating its offline growth.

Byju’s is a very common and broadly used e-learning platform in India. When it comes to understanding concepts and practicing problems for competitive exams, Byju’s is one of the best options for students. And, Aakash institutes are also very famous for providing high-quality coaching mainly for NEET and JEE aspirants.

Closing the deal

The news of the acquisition has been spreading since January that Byju’s has agreed to buy Aakash Educational Services. Back in 2019, Aakash sold a 37.5 percent stake to Blackstone but Byju declined to comment on this topic. Byju’s whose current valuation is $13 billion has acquired the old chain of coaching centers for nearly $1 billion paid in cash and equity for the acquisition, that is, $600 million in cash and the rest in stock (TechCrunch).

Byju’s
Image Source: entrackr.com

When the deal was closed with Blackstone a couple of years ago that made Aakash’s total valuation to $500 million. Currently, Aakash owns more than 200 physical coaching centers all over India where top-quality mentorship is provided to the aspirants. The total number of students enrolled in Aakash coaching centers is more than 250,000.

Change in perspective

Since Aakash Educational Services is well known for providing top-class coaching to the students in India, they didn’t stop teaching during the pandemic. As the classes shifted to a virtual platform, Aakash started offering many services online to the students. So, with Byju’s already having a powerful online presence and Aakash newly making coaching options online, both the companies landed on a mutual interest during the pandemic. Though the deal has been finalized recently, both the companies were discussing terms since last year.

Even after the acquisition, the founders of the company will be attached to it and they will be still working towards providing quality coaching to the students. Aakash Chaudhry, managing director and co-promoter of Aakash Educational Services sounded very optimistic about the deal. He said that this joint partnership between two leading brands in the educational sector will provide “very substantial and value-additive services to students.”

Advantages to the acquisition

With Byju’s being the country’s most valuable Ed-tech company and Aakash having a strong physical presence, both the companies together will create a huge omnipresent brand for Indian students. Aakash Chaudhry has further added that Aakash has provided the students so far with physical coaching and whoever was in need of online tutorials and accessing content anytime, Byju’s has been their savior. So, joining hands together a unique solution will be provided to the students by leveraging physical location and online learning technology.

Byju Raveendran, co-founder, and CEO of the ed-tech startup Byju’s has said that in the future of education especially in our country, both online and offline experiences will be blended. Even before Byju’s started the online platform he used to teach hundreds of students offline on the stadiums. Apart from creating an omnichannel, this partnership is also aiming to reach students from small towns and remote areas in India.

Amit Dixit, co-head of Asia Acquisitions of Blackstone has also mentioned that the presence of an omnichannel “will be the winning model in test prep and tutoring” especially when two of the most important companies in the Indian education sector are joining hands.

Growth of Byju’s

Byju’s has come a long way since 2011 which currently serves over 80 million users. 5.5 million of the total Byju’s audience are paid customers. The company has gained massive recognition very quickly especially among students. The company has made a few big acquisitions so far which includes US-based Osmo and Scholr. One of the biggest acquisitions of the company was in 2020 when they acquired WhiteHat Jr for $300 million.

LG Electronics

LG Electronics to shutdown its Smartphone Sales and Production.

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On 5th April 2021, the South Korean company, LG Electronics revealed the news of the shutdown of its smartphone sales and production. This is disheartening to see that one of the first-ever smartphone brands to launch in the market has to retreat its steps. For a long time, the LG Electronics smartphone division was struggling to survive in the market as the consumer base decreased drastically and they found it hard to find a buyer anymore. So, the company has finalized the decision to completely ending its smartphone sales and production.

As the company has decided to shutdown the production across the globe, it will leave its 10 percent share in North America. In the North American market, the two main company’s dominating the smartphone markets are Samsung and Apple’s mobile phones. The existing users of LG will either choose Samsung or Apple for the next choice. But, according to some analysts, the existing LG customers are more likely to choose Samsung over Apple as the price range especially the mid-range products have more varieties in Samsung.

Loss in LG’s Smartphone Division

It is unfortunate that LG’s smartphone division has been facing recurring losses for quite some time. In the past six years, the total loss suffered by LG’s smartphone sector has summed up to $4.5 billion. With the increasing competition in the market especially with popular mobile brands like Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, and many more LG’s product lines got lost in the myriad. Thus dropping out from the smartphone market is a wise choice made by LG as now the company can invest more in electronics, home appliances, and electric vehicle components. LG has a good market when it comes to choosing smart devices for the home.

LG Electronics
Image Source: rprna.com

LG’s smartphone division wasn’t always like this. In 2013, LG’s smartphone was at peak of its business as it brought some good smartphone models with exquisite features to the market. LG was one of the early companies in the smartphone business to bring features like wide-angle cameras to its smartphones. During its accelerated growth, it was the third-largest brand after Samsung and Apple in terms of the largest smartphone manufacturer.

What caused the Downfall?

After LG smartphones reached their peak sale, the company slowly started witnessing a stiff decrease in buyers. The most important reason behind this is receiving slower software updates and most of the flagship products faced both software and hardware mishaps. Today, we can see how fast and often we receive regular updates on our mobile phones. The OS receives regular updates, as well as the options, have also increased. Due to a lack of such strong vision and lack of marketing skill, LG failed to survive in the long run.

With the advent of Chinese companies like Honor, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, many companies which used to be a hit even a few years ago have started struggling. Some of the companies whose sales have fallen greatly are Nokia, HTC, and BlackBerry. If we look at the statistics, Samsung shipped 256 million phones last year whereas LG shipped only 23 million. (Reuters) This shows that the company was barely surviving the competition.

Other companies will Benefit

Though Samsung will benefit greatly in the absence of LG from the market, other Chinese companies will also witness an increase in sales. The main reason behind this is that the Chinese companies don’t have a very dominating business in the United States due to rivalry between Beijing and the US, especially in recent times. But, in the case of Latin America, the Chinese smartphone business is expected to boom now that LG has completely disappeared. The company is expected to totally shut down the mobile sector by 31st July of this year.

In South Korea, the employees in the smartphone division will be shifted to other LG sectors but at the local level in other regions, this will bring uncertainties in employment. In spite of shutting down the smartphone division, LG will retain the 4G and 5G core technology patents. It will also provide service support and updates to its existing customers for a certain period of time