Wednesday, 7 September 2016
LG
Electronics Inc unveiled a premium smartphone on Wednesday that the South
Korean firm hopes will help revive its money-losing mobile business, a major
revenue contributor and key customer for components suppliers in the LG group.
LG
announced its V20 just hours before rival Apple Inc is due to launch its latest
iPhone. The V20 also comes about five months after LG launched its flagship G5,
which fell short of expectations due to production problems and competition
from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy S7 phones.
The
G5's disappointing performance pushed LG's mobile arm to its fifth consecutive
quarterly operating loss in April-June. The division made up almost a quarter
of LG's first-half revenue and buys parts from affiliates such as LG Display Co
Ltd and LG Innotek Co Ltd.
"We
hope the V20 will be a turning point," LG mobile division chief Cho Juno
said at a news conference.
LG's
new phone will face tough competition from Apple and Samsung, though the
latter's recall of the newly launched Galaxy Note 7 may work in LG's favor.
Cho
said he was not sure whether the Note 7 recall would help the V20, but would
not comment further on any competition including Samsung and Apple.
The
V20 offers a 5.7 inch display, metal body, replaceable battery and beefed-up
audio capabilities with new chipsets and through a partnership with audio
equipment maker Bang & Olufsen A/S.
It
also has improved photo and video capabilities through features such as dual
rear cameras and reduced blurring on pictures and videos, LG said.
LG
did not disclose pricing or sales targets. It said it would start selling the
phone in South Korea at the end of September, followed at undisclosed times by
markets such as the United States, Hong Kong and China.
