After several years of struggling with big companies like LG, Samsung and Apple, LG gave up and ceased smartphone operations in April 2021. But LG’s smartphone operations may not be completely exhausted yet.
According to the report by The Elec, the South Korean tech giant is considering licensing some of its approximately 20,000 smartphone patents to other companies before terminating the LG mobile brand. Among these patents are some prominent wireless technologies such as 5G.
LG wants to monetize its smartphone patents
Before LG shuts down its smartphone operations, LG said that this market has become “very competitive” and it would be better to use its energy in other areas. Considering that LG has been doing well since closing its loss-making mobile division, we can say that this move is the right one.
But LG’s cessation of smartphone operations also voided many patents that it can no longer use. The company, which holds nearly 20,000 patents on 4G, 5G, and other wireless technologies, costs about 20 billion won ($16 million) each year to maintain them.
The Elec, on the other hand, claimed that the company had formed a subsidiary that would handle licensing deals with various smartphone brands. LG may also sell some of these patents to rival companies. For example, a few months after LG’s departure from the smartphone market, Samsung reportedly followed LG’s 5G patent portfolio.
Smartphone patents obtained by LG will be distributed in different ways. Allegedly, LG wants to keep its 5G patents as long as possible because they are important. In fact, the company plans to use these patents to develop its own smart devices and Internet of Things (IoT) products.
What makes LG’s current decision to license/sell its patents interesting is that many companies, including automaker Volkswagen, have applied to LG to purchase these patents after it terminated its mobile operations. Let’s see if there will be new offers from companies like Volkswagen over time.
What do you think about the smartphone patents obtained by LG? Do not forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments section or on the SDN Forum.
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