LG Electronics on Friday denied a South Korean media report that said the company had axed 30 percent of its overseas mobile phone division staff, and a company spokesman said the original report was based on "bad information."
The report, in the Korea Economic Daily, did not cite its sources, but said that the cuts mainly involved mobile marketing and purchasing jobs as well as the shuttering of some unprofitable outlets. The report added that LG is expected to make similar moves in its domestic business.
"The fact is that there was no such action taken at LG remotely similar to what was reported...and there's no indication that there will be any," LG spokesman Ken Hong told FierceWireless. "We are always looking at ways to improve the performance of our mobile business. Cutting one-third of our staff, however, isn't one of them."
LG's mobile phone business has been generating operating losses for the past five quarters. LG shipped 24.8 million total handsets in the second quarter, up from 24.5 million in the first quarter but down from 30.6 million units in the year-ago quarter. In July LG said it expects to sell 24 million smartphones this year, down from a previous target of 30 million units; the company expects to sell 114 million handset units overall, well below its previous target of 150 million units.
LG CFO David Jung said in late July that the company will continue to reduce its feature phone production as it shifts its focus to high-end smartphones even if that leads to a decline in overall unit shipments.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
Related Articles:
Report: LG slashes 30% of overseas mobile phone staff
LG's handset unit narrows loss, expects more smartphone sales later this year
LG slashes 2011 smartphone, handset sales targets
LG's handset sales slip in Q1, but recovery predicted for second half
T-Mobile, LG announce Honeycomb-powered G-Slate Android tablet
LG posts record quarterly loss, handsets still struggling