On April 5, 2021, electronics giant LG dropped a surprising announcement: it would exit the smartphone industry entirely. Although this was shocking — it’s not every day that a major smartphone maker stops making phones, after all — it wasn’t altogether unexpected. After years of success in building great Android smartphones, the company’s sales had fallen further and further behind the competition, especially compared to long-time hometown rival Samsung. An exit was likely LG’s only viable option.
This was a sad day for Android fans. Although relatively few people were buying LG’s phones in 2021, the company still commanded deep respect. Not only had it launched some of the most revered phones in Android’s early history — the LG G3, Nexus 4, and LG V10 being some great examples — but it also was well-known as a risk-taker. Take the LG Wing: Launched only six months before the company announced its exit from the industry, it was one of the most genuinely innovative (if impractical) Android phones I’ve ever used. Although not many people wanted the LG Wing, they loved the idea of the company pushing the envelope to keep the industry on its toes.