LG Will No Longer Release Flagship Smartphones Every Year

LG makes good smartphones but they fail to catch on with customers. No wonder the company’s mobile business has lost money for 11 straight quarters. The company understands that it needs to change things in order to stop this division from burning money. LG has therefore decided to stop releasing flagship smartphones on an annual basis like it has been doing for so many years in tandem with rival Samsung.

LG’s Vice Chairman Cho Sung-jin confirmed during a press conference at CES 2018 in Las Vegas that the company is only going to release new smartphones when there’s a need for it. “We will unveil new smartphones when it is needed. But we will not launch it just because other rivals do,” he said in response to a question about the LG G7’s potential launch date.

LG has more or less pegged its flagship release cycle with Samsung over the past few years. It launches a new G series handset around the same time as the new Galaxy S flagship from Samsung in spring. LG then follows it up with a new V series flagship which comes out either before or just after a new Galaxy Note from Samsung in the fall.

The company hasn’t clarified if this new strategy will be enforced immediately or if it will at least unveil its Galaxy S9 challenger in the coming weeks. Recent reports have suggested that the LG G7 is going to be unveiled this March.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: LG