LG Electronics Inc said on Thursday it would stop producing smartphones in South Korea and move manufacturing to Vietnam, joining global rivals shifting factories to low-cost locations as they battle a slump in global demand.

Photo: AFP

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world's biggest smartphone maker, said late last year it would cease operations at one of its mobile phone plants in China.

Japan's Sony Corp is also closing its Beijing smartphone plant as it works to make its money-losing handset business profitable.

LG, whose smartphone business has been losing money for several years, said the move will boost annual production capacity of its smartphone plant in Vietnam by 83 percent to 11 million handsets from the second half of this year.

Shares in LG Electronics were trading up 2 percent, versus a 0.3 percent decline in the broader market.