Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/06/19/lg_steps_away_from_tablet_market/

LG shelves future tablet efforts

Will focus on smartphones instead

By Tony Smith

Posted in Personal Tech, 19th June 2012 16:01 GMT

LG has ceded the tablet arena to Apple. Effectively chucking in the towel, it has put the development of future tablets "on the back burner".

So says a company spokesman, Bloomberg reports after probing the South Korean giant for its response to Microsoft's Surface launch.

The LG minion said: "We've decided to put all new tablet development on the back burner for the time being in order to focus on smartphones."

Not even LG's bigger arch-rival, Samsung, has managed to significantly dent Apple's lead in tablets. Quite apart from Surface, LG also has to consider competing with Google's upcoming own-brand tablet, the Asus-made Nexus 7, which expected to be announced later this month.

LG barely troubles the scorer in the tablet market, so no wonder it wants out. But it does have a top-five placing in the world smartphone business, according to most market watchers. ®