LG is dead: what it means for Motorola

This week, LG announced it would close its mobile division after years of market share and financial loss. LG rose quickly in 2007 at the expense of Moto's fall on some key markets like North America and Europe. Of course it made some innovative products through the years, no one can deny that. But still, it did benefit from copying others, at least in the beginning. 

Now that LG is gone, another classic phone manufacturer is out of the list of the ones remaining. We saw Nokia die (it's only back through a licensing deal), Palm, HTC, Blackberry, Sony (still around but barely making phones anymore) and now LG. So now Samsung and Motorola are the only ones that have been in the business for a while and are still relevant.

What does this mean for Motorola?

To begin with, it proves Moto still has power and relevance, and no matter what many have said over the past decade, it's still around after more than 92 years. Remember, LG was one of the rising stars in 2007 just like Blackberry, HTC and Palm. Also Nokia dominated the market back then. And where are they now? None of them in the top 10 globally. So it proves a point in favor of everyone who had doubts in Moto.

Then, there's the US. LG had a great presence there thanks to carrier deals and low end phones. Thanks to LG's fall over the last years, Moto saw its market share double pretty quick. Motorola must take advantage of this as fast as they can. Secure those Verizon and AT&T deals for Moto G and Moto E phones. Also work hard to get their high end Edge or RAZR phones sold by them. Don't let Samsung take advantage of this gap.

If Moto acts fast, they can secure the #3 spot in North America and it's a very safe spot to be, with no competition. But they need to come hard for this, with big marketing campaigns for the mid and high end phones and a great pricing strategy for the lower part of Moto E and G.

It's sad for LG, though they are still a massive consumer company that dominates other product categories like TV, home appliances and business. But it's a great opportunity for brands like Moto to take advantage. I hope they do.