Based on materials from androidauthority.com
At the end of 2018, there was a feeling that we had heard almost nothing about the company LG, and the mobile devices market was dominated by such names as Huawei, Samsung and Xiaomi . However, and LG has repeatedly made headlines on various occasions.
The company kicked off the year by announcing that it would ditch the one-year smartphone cycle, and then launched an 'update center' to speed up the process of updating its phones – we don't know yet how successful this will be. Well, smartphones … The G7 ThinQ and the innovative V40 ThinQ were well received by the public, but unfortunately for the company, none of them sold well enough to bring profit to the mobile division. It looks like a repeat of 2017 for the Korean company.
LG in 2018: thanks for not HTC
Financially speaking, 2017 was not a good year for LG. The mobile division ended the fourth quarter with a loss report for the 11th time, although LG G6 and V30 are undoubtedly on the list of smartphones that could be a good choice for the buyer. What did 2018 bring?
The company made some interesting announcements earlier this year, announcing, for example, that it will stick to a traditional cycle for its releases. This meant that LG V30S ThinQ will be shown at MWC, and it turned out to be nothing more than a V30 with some additions in the form of AI-based features and a new loading screen. We also saw that the company released a V35 for some regions LG, which was the same V30 with updated hardware.
In other words, LG released the expected updates to the G7 and V40, and the company's previous statement began to look like an excuse for the existence of the V30S and V35.
What do you know about smartphones LG?
The first real flagship of this year from the Korean company came out great. It combines important features such as a headphone jack, dust and water resistance and wireless charging. And also in it, users received branded chips LG, such as a quad DAC and a second, wide-angle camera. But those who expected a large battery, image quality that could rival the 'pixels', or a triple camera were disappointed.
In terms of cameras, LG went full swing in their V40 ThinQ, the flagship launched in the second half of the year. Equipped with as many as five cameras – main, telephoto and triple wide-angle, the V40 promised photography enthusiasts a lot of possibilities in theory. Subsequently, we saw a similar combination of cameras from Huawei and Samsung, which proves that LG is still capable of creating important innovative solutions.
Unfortunately, the V40 was not developed enough to compete with smartphones such as the Galaxy Note 9. But it cost under a thousand dollars. However, the company has already added a couple of camera updates.
LG has also been very active in the budget phone market with the LG Q7 and Q8, as well as the LG G7 Fit and G7 One.
The Q7 and Q8 have corrected some of the shortcomings of the Q6 spec list by adding an IP rating and a fingerprint scanner, and finally ditching the microUSB connector. In addition to the rather high level of IP protection, it is worth remembering the very humane price tag that justifies the absence of a dual camera, although still higher than that of Chinese manufacturers.
LG The G7 Fit and G7 One, meanwhile, are built on older top-end chipsets, not modern mid-range platforms. This is an unusual decision, since new generations of relatively cheap chipsets can boast more performance than the top models of the past. How this will affect their sales is not yet clear, but LG has another problem in the mid-price range – more budget competitors in the face of the series Realme and the Pocophone F1.
Feeling déjà vu?
It seemed that the announcement of the next quarterly total by the company LG would show losses from the mobile division. Unfortunately, this is what happened. This business has been in trouble throughout 2018. The company also reported a decline in sales for two quarters in a row, demonstrating the lowest level of shipments in the last two years. Obviously, the reason for this failure was a new strategy. Nevertheless, when compared with previous indicators, the losses even decreased. Of course, almost $ 130.5 million in losses in the third quarter is a huge amount, but it is less than a quarter earlier, when more than 160 million were lost, and several times less than a year earlier, when in the third quarter of 2017 financial losses amounted to almost $ 330 million.
The company managed to stay in the top three brands in the US market, as reflected in the report by Counterpoint Research, but this rather indicates a lack of competition in North America. Companies Huawei and Xiaomi cannot compete in a market they cannot enter normally. So to assess the real state of affairs for LG it is better to look at the results in Europe or India.
Fortunately, the company realized that a change was needed, announcing that Brian Kwon, head of the home appliances division, would lead the mobile division. Kwon has been called the 'expert on revival', so even the official press release demonstrates how high the expectations of the new leader are.
Shut down your phone or shut down your business?
Flexible screen LG
Reporting on the results of the third quarter, the company said that the current strategy will be to focus more on mid-range smartphones. If LG really manages to set an attractive price against the background of Chinese competitors for devices like the G7 Fit and G7 One, then there is no doubt that its sales in 2019 will grow. We do not know for sure what plans LG have regarding flagship smartphones, but we are almost sure that we will see new items among the top devices of the G and V series. If the portfolio is replenished according to the templates of 2018, then we will have several more variations LG V40.
Many expect LG to introduce a flexible smartphone in the first half of the year. The Korean company will not be alone here, as Samsung and Huawei will surely present such devices. So LG it will take something really special to stand out from the flexible devices of these two manufacturers. Whatever it is, really completely flexible device, user interface or usage algorithm, it can never release a raw product.
Support 5G is also one of the upward trends of 2019. According to reports from Korea, already at the MWC in Barcelona LG and Samsung will show 5G smartphones. This is also a chance for the company to come out with an aggressive pricing policy in order to steal buyers away from its main competitor.
At the same time, the financial performance of the mobile division will be under the most scrutiny throughout 2019. If it is possible to maintain the trend of reducing losses, then he will have a chance to show quarterly profit or at least a loss calculated in millions of dollars, and not tens of millions). And besides, the 'revival specialist' will definitely be under pressure from the board of directors to await the results.
2019: will life get better?
The South Korean company showed last year that it is still capable of innovation with five camera modules, custom triple camera combinations, and a unique approach to LCD screens. LG has also begun to focus more on mid-range devices than in previous years, and has publicly proclaimed that lower-end devices are also part of its strategy.
With a downward trend in losses, a second year of a new strategy, an update center and a 'revival specialist', the mobile division LG needs to demonstrate profitability. At the same time, the rise in supply of affordable flagships and high-performance budget devices from competitors means that the Korean company will need decisive steps if it hopes to become a more significant player in 2019.