LG Electronics plans to restructure Korean mobile unit

SEOUL: LG Electronics Inc plans to restructure its domestic mobile operation by reducing marketing staff to improve the struggling business, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The move comes after LG, the world's No.3 handset maker, has recorded five straight quarterly losses from mobile phone sales and as cutthroat competition pressures it to speed up restructuring.

"(LG is) speeding up the adjustment...(by) boosting the research pool and slimming down the marketing structure," the source said, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

LG had around 10,000 mobile staff in Korea as of end-June and the source declined to provide the size of the adjustment.

The Maeil Business Newspaper reported quoting an unnamed industry official that LG planed to realign some 1,000 jobs, or between 10-15 percent of its domestic mobile staff, mainly marketing positions.

LG declined to comment on the report.

Koo Bon-joon, a member of LG's founding family, took over as chief executive a year ago and has been cutting the portion of unprofitable phone models to focus on high-margin smartphones, bolstering research staff in an attempt to catch up to rivals such as Apple , Samsung and HTC .

Copyright Reuters, 2011