LG's Exit to Leave a Hole in the U.S. Smartphone Market

While LG’s decision to close its smartphone business probably won’t make a huge difference at the global level, with Chinese manufacturers flooding the market with Android phones at all price levels, the company’s exit definitely will be felt in the United States. In the absence of many Chinese brands, alternatives to Samsung Android phones are hard to come by, explaining why LG’s market share is still considerably higher in the U.S. than it is globally.

According to data from Statista’s Global Consumer Survey, 10 percent of U.S. smartphone users aged 18-64 used an LG phone as their primary handset in 2020, trailing only Apple (44 percent) and Samsung (32 percent) in that respect. With LG out of the picture, it’s likely that Samsung will gain further market share, effectively turning the U.S. smartphone landscape into a duopoly.