LG’s Rollable Phone May Not Be Able to See the Light of Day

A teaser image of LG Electronics’ rollable smartphone

As LG Electronics has decided to overhaul its mobile business, including the sale of its major assets, its rollable phone, which was supposed to come out this year, may not be able to see the light of day.

Rollable phones have been attracting attention as a new form factor that will lead innovation in the smartphone industry. LG Electronics’ rollable phone is expected to renew the company’s brand image by making it the world’s first company to launch such a smartphone.

However, LG Electronics’ launch of rollable phones has become uncertain as it decided to completely reorganize its mobile business. Rollable phones pose many technical difficulties in the first place. Furthermore, no one can say that the rollable phone will surely become a hit product.

LG Electronics drew attention by releasing a teaser video of the rollable phone at the launch event for the LG Wing smartphone in September 2020, but its development progress has fallen short of expectations since then. At the CES on Jan. 11, the company released a rollable phone video which ran for only less than 10 seconds.

Industry insiders predicted last year that LG would be able to release the rollable phone early this year, but it has been continuously delayed. Even if the rollable phone is well-received after its release, its growth potential is limited as it will retail at a high price of more than two million won and the initial production volume will be small.

LG Electronics has decided to reorganize its mobile phone business instead of taking the risks involved in developing the rollable phone, analysts say.