LG leaving the solar market

[Mr Gus]

Having dropped their phones, & now solar where are they going? (chinese product presence will only increase)

From Techspot..

https://www.techspot.com/news/93517-lg- ... d-240.html

From the Korea Herald..

"LG Electronics said Wednesday it is exiting its solar panel business, citing unfavorable market conditions such as rising costs and price competition as the key factors.

The Korean tech giant, following a board meeting on Tuesday, said it would stop producing solar panels and modules by June 30, with some 900 employees being relocated to other business divisions, including those of other LG companies.

LG started its solar panel business back in 2010 with an emphasis on higher-efficiency premium modules. But it has suffered slowing profits amid cutthroat competition with Chinese rivals with cheaper pricing, fueled by the rising prices of raw materials.

For years, its global market share has remained at about 1 percent. Sales also fell from 1.1 trillion won ($922 million) in 2019 to 800 billion won in 2020.

LG said it would continue to do work in the energy business such as energy storage system and energy management for buildings. But the existing energy business division will focus on nurturing future growth drivers like robotics.

This is LG’s second pullback from a major business sector over the past year. In April last year, the firm made a surprise announcement that it was halting its 26-year-old smartphone business due to years of losses"

[Stinsy]

It is difficult to compete in a commoditised market. People aren’t goi g to buy your panels because of your cool marketing, they buy them because they’re a dollar a kWp cheaper and because your panels produce an extra few W in low-light.

If you cannot see where the innovation is coming from that will produce the innovation that will sustain the business viability then you need to close that division. Doing so is the sort of divisiveness that is attractive to investors. Too much however and you no longer have a business!

[Mr Gus]

They "were" a recognisable brand in an ocean of unknown, unheard of chinese name brands that rise & fall like a moon tide.
(maybe they should have marketed themselves as such)

[dan_b]

LG make a significant proportion of all of the worlds LCD screens, LG Chem is the 10th largest chemicals company in the world and of course there is their battery division.

[Mr Gus]

For now, winds change.

Does that mean sony will depart also?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/271 ... rter-2009/

Hover on the manufacturer to highlight.

[dan_b]

Well Panasonic stopped making its own display screens quite a few years ago; everything's possible.