According to South Korea’s Herald Economic Daily, LG has agreed to sell Apple’s iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch at the LG Best Shop in South Korea from August. This means that Apple products will be sold in 400 LG stores across the country. As part of the agreement between the two parties, all Mac computers are not in the scope of the sale because LG’s laptop products are in competition with Apple Computers.
Before this news came, there were some stumbling blocks in the proposed transaction that seemed to make an agreement unlikely. According to the report, LG faces strong resistance from the Korea National Mobile Communication Distribution Association, which believes that the proposal directly violates the earlier win-win competition agreement related to mobile phone sales.
However, the regulator cited the negotiable upon change clause in the agreement, believing that in view of the changes in LG’s position in the industry, it is too early to judge whether it has violated the regulations.
LG Electronics recently announced its withdrawal from the smartphone business. When it completely exits the mobile business at the end of this month, the retail space previously used to market its mobile phones will be vacant. At the same time, Apple saw an opportunity to increase its retail business in Korea, so the two companies began negotiations.
According to reports, the Korea Distribution Association is waiting for LG’s official statement on the matter, and once it starts selling Apple products in its stores, they are expected to start renegotiating a win-win agreement.
