LG ELECTRONICS MAY SHUT DOWN MOBILE PHONE BUSINESS

LG Electronics Inc. may shutter its mobile communication business rather than sell it, the South Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo reports, citing an unidentified person in the electronics industry, Kyungji Cho reported for Bloomberg News.

Negotiations with Germany’s Volkswagen AG and Vietnam’s Vingroup JSC on the possible sale of the smartphone business seemed to have failed, according to the report.

LG Electronics’ CEO said in January that all options were on the table for the loss-making operation. The company was said to have halted development last month of phones with a rollable display, and DongA said Sunday that LG has shelved a planned first-half rollout of all new smartphones.

LG may share its decision on the business’ fate with employees as soon as early April, the DongA report said.

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