This LG Phone Maniac Collects 90 LG Phones In 23 Years; Will Use Them Forever Even As LG Stops Making New Phones

Ryu Hyun-soo, a South Korean, identifies himself as an “LG phone maniac” who refuses to give up his LG smartphones even though the company that produces them is closing down.

LG Corp’s mobile division is a small part of the business. Due to a prolonged sales decline, LG Electronics Inc announced this month that its mobile division would be shut down by the end of July.

Ryu, A Diehard LG phone Lover Dedicated A Room For Lg Devices!

Ryu, 53, said he started using LG phones because he liked their design and innovative features, but the audio quality made him fall in love with them. He has nearly 90 smartphones. Ryu has a room dedicated to the devices, as well as the parts and tools needed to repair them, at his home in Anyang, south of Seoul

“I went all-in on the LG phones due to the audio,” he said.

“I think they were rushing to catch up (with Samsung), sacrificing the quality … (and) to cover up the issue, the company was focusing too much on the design and other functions,” he said, and that led to repeat problems.

He was confident with his plan to use the LG phones “forever” as he could buy parts online.

“It is easy to replace parts if you practise a little. I’m not sure when the parts will be out of stock, but I’ll continue to use the LG phones as long as the parts are still being supplied,” he said.

Still, he was nostalgic about the shutdown of the business.

“A Samsung phone is like a smart friend and an Apple phone is like a girlfriend to me. Then the LG phone is like a friend with whom I’ve shared the ups and downs of life with. It is sad to see the friend leaving. It is very sad,” Ryu said.

What went wrong?

LG, which had been producing phones for nearly a quarter-century, eventually fell behind rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, owing to poor marketing and slow software updates.

Its mobile business has been losing money for nearly six years and is expected to lose $4.5 billion by the end of 2020.

In 2015, LG suffered its first major setback. The G4, the company’s flagship at the time, had boot loop problems, prompting users to search out service centres to get their devices back up and running or get a replacement.

LG has always been one of the big phone brands, especially in North America, but recently, things haven’t been going great for the company. 

Although LG Mobile had record-breaking revenues in 2014, the company saw a 26% year-over-year decline in smartphone sales in 2018, continuing the downward trend from previous quarters, increasing fears among investors and executives.