LG will shut down manufacturing of smartphones in July.

LG will shut down smartphone business in July to focus on smart home, robotics.

It’s the end of an era for the one-time phone giant, which has struggled to compete with Apple, Samsung and Chinese brands.

LG was once the world’s third-bestselling mobile brand. These days the loss-making business doesn’t even make LG to reach the global smartphone top 10 list. Market research firm IDC places it 11th.

According to Natalya Paul, digital editor of Stuff magazine, LG failed to hit the sweet spot for consumers despite providing short bursts of excitement with brilliant technology – some of its high-end products were cool but just too niche,”

And as for its more mainstream smartphones, LG just didn’t do things as well as the competition.”

LG on Sunday became the latest legacy phone-maker to exit “the incredibly competitive mobile phone sector” as it struggles in a market dominated by Apple, Samsung and growing Chinese manufacturers. 

The South Korean based company said it will close its mobile manufacturing unit by the end of July. Instead of smartphones, LG will now focus on manufacturing of smart home products an area where it’s one of the biggest providers as well as electric vehicle components, robotics, artificial intelligence, business products and other connected devices

But a number of other Chinese brands, including Xiaomi, Vivo and OnePlus, are prospering with advanced models priced at levels LG simply can’t profitably compete with.

Huawei which was briefly the world’s bestselling Android phone-maker looks like it could also be on the way out from the system after the US blocked its access to the processor chips it needs to manufacture new devices.

Other legacy phone brands such as BlackBerry, Nokia and Motorola have faced their own struggles, and neither company now exists in its original form for last decade.