LG phone division alleged to be shedding staff

LG may have taken emergency steps to reverse its still ongoing losses in its mobile group. A claim in the Korea Economic Daily had LG cutting 30 percent of its non-Korean mobile staff to bring the section's finances above water. Similar steps were on the way for the company's Korean home, tipsters said.

Most of the cuts would be to sales and those closing purchasing deals, as well as some more consistently money-losing locations.

Officially, LG said it didn't comment on rumors and wouldn't confirm or deny the details.

The company has been late to tackling the high end of the smartphone market and has consequently given up a significant amount of ground. This past spring, it sank to 5.7 percent of all cellphones as its on-the-mend smartphone business wasn't growing quickly enough to offset the rapid decline of basic cellphones. Much of its hope for 2011 rests on the Optimus 3D, which just reached the US as the Thrill 4G through AT&T.

LG's Korean rival, Samsung, is nearly caught up to Apple and increasingly one of the most influential phone makers in the world. Much of this has been credited to a much wider smartphone library and a focus on cutting-edge designs like the Galaxy S II.

By Electronista Staff