What can I say about a well-engineered smartphone line that was doomed to irrelevance because the parent company never understood how to differentiate its products (other than price)? Ever hear anyone say, “I can’t wait for the new LG smartphone to come out!” No? I haven’t either.
Nice features at a price only gets you so far. LG still has about a 10 percent share of the U.S. smartphone market, but less than 2 percent globally. After Apple (21%) and Samsung (16%), rounding out the top seven global smartphone manufacturers are Xiaomi (11%), Oppo (9%), vivo (8%), Huawei (8%) and realme (4%). LG falls into the 23% of “other.” (Counterpoint Research: Global Smartphone Market Share 2020 Q4.)
So, wait. Making a great product isn’t enough? No. Making a great product is table stakes. Making an exceptional product may get you somewhere, but if you want to win, emotionally connecting with your customers and constantly working to improve the relationship is generally the best (albeit hardest) way to take a bunch of features and turn them into product benefits that people dream about. Looking at the history of LG Smartphones, they never even got close.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it.