LG Smartphone Industry

With the debut of its latest product, the Optimus G, LG Electronics is hoping to make a comeback in the smartphone industry.
The Optimus G, with the "G" standing for "great", was unveiled late August, complete with all the latest technologies the company has to offer.

But there are concerns the device won't attract enough attention to help LG turn around its business, which is lagging behind its two main competitors in the smartphone market, Samsung and Apple.
In fact, some analysts predict it may already be too late for LG.

For today's In the Spotlight segment, our Ji Myung-kil joins us now at the Arirang News Center, to tell us more about where LG stands in the global market and its struggle to get ahead.
Good evening, Myung-kil.

[Reporter : Ji Myung-kil
mkji@arirang.co.kr] Good evening, Jin-joo and Daniel.

Let's start with LG's standing in the smartphone industry.
Why is the company lagging behind right now[Reporter : ] Well, for that answer, I talked to an analyst at Macquarie Investment Firm.
He talked about how LG was one of the three biggest mobile phone manufacturers until 2008, with models such as 'Chocolate', 'Lollipop' and 'Prada' putting LG ahead of the pack.

Let's have a look.

[Interview : Kim Dong-wan, Managing Director
Macquarie] "LG Electronics was the top three handset manufacturer until 2008 but obviously LG Electronics underestimated the business opportunity in smartphones. As a result they continued to put out the feature phones, but that was very different from what market expected and what consumers wanted".

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Reporter : mkji@arirang.co.kr