South Korea's LG Electronics said on Monday it will wind down its loss-making mobile division - a move that is set to make it the first major smartphone brand to completely withdraw from the market.
Its decision to pull out will leave its 10 percent share in North America, where it is the No. 3 brand, to be gobbled up by smartphone titans Apple and Samsung Electronics.
The division has logged nearly six years of losses totalling some $4.5 billion (roughly Rs. 33,010 crore), and dropping out of the fiercely competitive sector would allow LG to focus on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices and smart homes, it said in a statement.