FILE PHOTO: A man walks past an LG logo at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 27, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s LG Electronics plans to suspend manufacturing of its loss-making mobile phones in the country this year and shift the production to its existing plant in Vietnam, Yonhap News Agency said on Wednesday.

Citing an unidentified source, Yonhap reported that LG decided to move its local handset production to Vietnam to help turn around the money-losing smartphones division.

LG’s mobile business, in the red for seven quarters, and intensifying price competition in the global TV market likely weighed on its first quarter earnings, analysts have said.

LG Elec declined comment on the report.

It has production bases for smartphones in South Korea, China, Vietnam, Brazil and India, and the South Korean factory mainly manufactures high-end models, accounting for 10 percent to 20 percent of the firm’s total smartphone output.