South Korea’s LG Electronics announced a 5G smartphone on Sunday with a dual screen – at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2019).
Customers can watch a film on one screen while browsing the Internet on the other because the two screens on the new V50ThinQ 5G smartphone work independently.
LG is the world’s No.7 smartphone maker. LG has lost a quarter of its business last year as Chinese rivals Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi grabbed market share in a slightly weaker global market.
Research agency IHS Markit says LG Electronics has shipped 45 million smartphones in 2018 as compared with 56 million in 2017, says Wayne Lam, mobile devices and networks director, IHS Markit. Samsung shipped 290 million smartphones last year as compared with 316 million in 2017. Huawei shipped 206 million in 2018 vs 153 million in 2017.
LG Electronics last month revealed revenue of $54.4 billion and profit of KRW $2.40 billion in 2018. LG’s Mobile Communications division reported revenues of $7.08 billion in 2018 and $1.51 billion in Q4 2018.
Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi announced 5G smartphones in Barcelona on the eve of the Mobile World Congress. Xiaomi will be selling its 5G smartphone for $680. Huawei has priced its 5G smartphone for $2,600.
LG did not set release dates or announce prices for the 5G smartphone, but said the 5G model should hit stores in the first half of the year.
LG is partnering with 10 major carriers in markets where 5G service will be launched this year, including the United States, South Korea, Australia as well as a number of European countries. UK mobile operator EE and US mobile service provider Sprint announced they would 5G smartphone from LG.
LG’s first 5G handset will support high-quality content at 5G speeds, expected to deliver up to 20 times the speed of 4G.
LG’s 5G device is powered by Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform with Snapdragon X50 5G modem and LG’s optimized software to deliver the advanced processing power. The phone comes with a 4,000mAh battery, 20 percent larger than in the V40ThinQ.
Baburajan K
