LG Electronics is reported to be shifting its focus away from smartphones to smart TVs, where it believes its best chance for success lies.

According to reports originating from Korea’s ET News, the company is to cut some of the workforce in its devices unit, although its R&D investment is likely to remain the same.

The news is somewhat surprising, because LG’s devices businesses has seen a number of profitable quarters in recent years – although there have been signs that tough competition has had an impact.

For example, in its last reported quarter it returned to the red after four profitable periods, which was attributed to a fall in average selling prices and marketing costs associated with the launch of its G2 smartphone.

Through the company’s recently-launched G2, its association with Google for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5, and its early support for LTE, LG has also managed to build something of a position for itself in the premium smartphone market.

But it is seeing more competition in its mass-market 3G lines and in emerging markets, and its leadership in LTE is also set to come under pressure as more vendors begin rolling out more devices supporting the technology.

The shift in focus to smart TVs comes in the same week that LG faced a controversy in the UK after it was revealed that its devices were sending details of owners’ viewing back to the manufacturer – including the channels being watched.

According to BBC, the issue is being investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office, to see if this constitutes a breach of data privacy regulations.

The report also said that although the TV menu included an “opt-out” for users not wanting personal information to be shared, the information was still sent to the vendor – albeit with an additional indicator that the user had taken this option.

LG said in a statement that the data was being collected “as part of the Smart TV platform to deliver more relevant advertisements and to offer recommendations to viewers based on what other LG Smart TV owners are watching”.

It also said a firmware update is being prepared that means the opt-out prevents any data being sent.