LG stops making smartphones: Here's what to expect as an LG mobile owner
Now that it is confirmed that LG will no longer make smartphones, multiple questions might have popped up on the minds of existing LG mobile users. What happens to your warranty? Will they repair damaged phones? Will your phone continue to receive software updates? In this article, we attempt to address most of these queries.
In case you haven’t heard the news yet, LG, on April 5, 2021, announced that it would close its loss-making smartphone business. The decision to close the business came after a lot of dilly-dallying and after a last-ditch attempt to sell the entire division to a seller failed. While LG will continue to sell smartphones until stocks last, there was some initial confusion about how LG intends to honour its warranty and software update commitments.
In the official press release, LG only said that it “will provide service support and software updates for customers of existing mobile products for a period of time which will vary by region.” Now, this is a statement that would have raised more questions than answers.
In case you own an LG smartphone and are seeking answers, we hope you find this article useful. Since most of NextPit’s readers are from the US, UK, and India, in this article, we will focus on these three markets.
Will LG continue to provide warranty and customer service for smartphones?
LG hasn’t provided a clear answer to this query. The company does, however, assert that it will “do the utmost” to provide after-sales services to its consumers. It is also pertinent to note that LG is bound by local regulations to provide after-sales service to products sold by them, so we can expect LG service centres to continue operations for the next couple of years.
Will LG make available replacement spare parts and accessories?
LG has confirmed that it will ensure seamless availability of spare and replacement parts like batteries, chargers, power cables, and headsets through its existing sales channels. LG customers, therefore, can expect the availability of spare parts according to the life span of the existing products. For newer smartphones like the LG Wing and the LG G8S, this means spare parts shall be available atleast for the next couple of years.
LG does, however, state that customers will need to get in touch with their nearest service centre to enquire about the availability of specific parts. They also state that the parts retention period may vary by country. Effectively, this means that parts availability will depend a lot on your location.
Will LG phones continue to receive software updates?
Before we even start talking about this, it is pertinent to note that LG wasn’t really known for issuing timely software updates for its smartphones when they had a fully functional smartphone division. Many people are, therefore (rightly) worried about software updates for their devices.
LG’s official stand is that OS upgrades will be offered for ‘selected models'. This includes an official upgrade to Android 11 and Android 12 for these models. We can expect most flagship and mid-range models from the company to atleast get updated to Android 12.
What remains to be seen is whether the company does manage to roll these out in a timely manner. LG has also confirmed that it will do its utmost to offer security updates and small bug fix updates.
What happens to data stored in LG Health and LG Memo apps? Will you be able to transfer data from them to other apps?
For people using LG Memo, you can transfer memo data by selecting
Sharing -> Text and image -> Select memo app you want to share it to.
Data transfer option will not be available for the LG Health app.
Will the LG ThinQ app for monitoring and controlling home appliances work?
Yes. The LG ThinQ app will continue to function normally, and users will be able to download, install, and update the app via the Google Play Store or the iOS App Store. The LG ThinQ eco-system is not affected by LG’s decision to exit the smartphone business.
I have more questions about my LG device. Where do I seek answers?
LG has created an FAQ that attempts to answer most of the queries you might have. Here are the links for the US, UK and India-specific pages.
Please check your local LG customer care centre for more details.
So, really not that much different than before.