LG Electronics has announced it will bow out of tablet computer development and focus on smaller devices that don’t compete head-on with Apple’s iPad.
“We’ve decided to put all new tablet development on the back burner for the time being in order to focus on smartphones,” Ken Hong, a spokesman for Seoul-based LG, said in an e-mailed response to queries.
LG had released its second tablet named Optimus Pad LTE earlier this year in an attempt to challenge the iPad. Other rivals, such as Samsung, continue to vie in the market with their tablets. Microsoft unveiled a Windows-powered tablet called “Surface” yesterday, in an attempt to enter the Apple-ruled tablet domain.
“LG doesn’t see Surface competing with anything we’re focusing on at the moment,” Hong said.
The electronics maker is attempting to revive its mobile-phone business with its Optimus line of Android-powered smartphones after being supplanted by Apple as the number 3 handset maker last year.