A few months ago, LG quit the smartphones market. Now, a new report by the local Herald Economic Daily says the South Korean company is readying an agreement with Apple to start selling iPhones in its 400 LG stores in the country. This is the second time this partnership has been reported.
As a matter of fact, not only iPhones will be sold in LG stores in South Korea starting August, but so will Apple Watches and iPads. Macs and MacBooks, on the other hand, won’t be available as LG is still in that business.
According to the report, the South Korean company faced resistance from the National Mobile Communication Distribution Association, which viewed the proposal as a violation of a competition agreement but changed its mind afterward.
In South Korea, Samsung controls over 67% of the smartphone market share, while Apple recorded a market share of 22% during Q1, according to Counterpoint research. LG, which is ending its smartphone operation this month, held a market share of 10%, which is what Apple and Samsung will go after.
Last month, in another approach in the US, Apple included some LG smartphones in its trade-in program. With that, US customers can get up to $180 when trading in an LG phone for a new iPhone, which is more than what Apple pays for most Google Pixel phones and less than what the company pays for Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S20 smartphones.
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