LG has no plans to unveil a flagship phone at the MWC 2018 as Korean media reports indicated release date of the rumored LG G7 will be delayed.
Instead of March, the G7 will debut April this year as reports came out that LG intends to rework the handset and start from scratch. Earlier reports have suggested LG wants to share the limelight with Samsung's Galaxy S9 at the Barcelona trade show. It appears now the South Korean device maker is in no rush to release its next flagship bet.
The marching order from the top is to start over, providing strong hints that LG's 2018 lineup of flagship models will be pushed back. This means potentially delayed arrival not only for the LG G7 but also for the follow up to the LG V30.
"The G7 smartphone team of the company's mobile communications business was told to halt recent work related to development of the newest phone, and to review the new product from scratch," a report from The Korea Herald said.
LG Bogged Down By Internal Troubles
The news came out following the statement issued by LG Electronics CEO Jo Seong-jin at the recently concluded CES 2018 that the company is rethinking its smartphone business. LG, according to Jo, will not engage in a slugfest with industry competitors, particularly with Samsung.
Starting this 2018, LG's business plan is to launch fresh handsets as it sees fit. There is no intention to outrace Samsung, which is confirmed to introduce the successor to the Galaxy S8 series. It looks like LG will only unpack the LG G7 once the build, specs, and feature details are exciting enough to disrupt the industry, which explains the "start over" order handed down by Jo.
Rumors, however, persist that Jo's decision pointed to an upcoming recalibration of LG's smartphone business, which is believed to be losing money. Korean media reports have shown that the division has been operating in deficits, and by the end of 2017, the losses amounted to hundreds of millions.
LG seems frustrated that none of the G- and V-series flagship models it brings to the market clicked with smartphone users so far. Speculations are rife the company is looking to rebrand its smartphone offerings, indicating that when the 2018 flagships are unboxed, they will be flashing new brand names.
Whatever the label will be, the LG G7, when it hits the market on April 2018, is said to be fired up by Qualcomm's eight-core Snapdragon 845 SoC with 6 GB of RAM. The handset will continue to stun with an even slimmer screen bezel with an aspect ratio of 18:9. Running the G7 show will be Android 8.0 Oreo right out of the box but layered by LG's in-house UI.
