LG will put tablet development on the back burner

KOREAN HARDWARE MAKER LG will sideline its tablet computer development to focus more on its smaller devices, the firm announced today.

"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, an LG spokesman, said in a statement.

The firm has most likely made this decision due to its relatively poor success in tablet sales over the past few years as it, along with many other OEMs, attempted to crack the Ipad dominated tablet computer market.

With this in mind, it's hardly shocking news. Especially considering the success of computer makers such as Asus and Acer that have achieved good sales figures with their Android tablets.

The tablet market is becoming increasingly overcrowded, and that was the case well before Microsoft's tablet announcement yesterday.

LG's announcement comes less than 24 hours after the Redmond, Washington company unveiled the Surface tablet running Windows 8 RT operating system. Undoubtedly, this was the straw that broke the camel's back - that is, putting LG completely off the idea of marketing a tablet in an already overcrowded market and failing to grab buyers' attention.

This was confirmed when LG mentioned in the statement, "Smartphone development is currently the main priority for LG's mobile business."

With this, we see how LG is focusing more on its thriving smartphone range, such as the Optimus Android powered line, that is definitely doing much better than its previous attempts to sell tablet computers. Think of the Optimus Pad, for example - the "first 3D tablet" that managed to repel buyers with an unappealing price of around £800. µ