[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics replaced the head of its mobile business division in a reshuffle on Nov. 30 apparently due to the falling sales of its flagship smartphones.

The Korean tech giant tapped Hwang Jeong-hwan as the mobile chief, while his predecessor Cho Jun-ho, who had led the struggling division for three years, was relocated to lead LG Academy, an education arm of LG Group.

LG V30

Hwang’s urgent mission would be elevating the profitability of the mobile division that posted losses for the 10th consecutive quarter as of the July-September period.

The division’s third-quarter operating loss was 375.3 billion won (US$345 million) largely due to the rising production cost of smartphones and higher marketing spending.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)