Despite increased competition from the likes of Apple and Samsung, not to mention the lukewarm response to the LG G4, LG still managed to ship close to 60 million smartphones last year. That’s a minuscule increase from the year prior, and the company wants to do much better this year, which is why it plans on releasing two flagship smartphones, as well as a “more cost-competitive value chain.” Though it hasn’t been confirmed, one of these smartphones will almost certainly be the LG G5, but we don’t know what the second flagship will be. Perhaps a success to the LG V10?
LG announced its quarterly and annual earnings this morning, but more important than the financial mumbo jumbo, the company gave a bit of insight into its smartphone agenda for 2016. In the earnings report, with a portion dedicated to the LG Mobile Communications Company, LG declares it saw a 12 percent increase in sales over the previous quarter, and shipped a total of 15.3 million LG smartphones in Q4. Over the entire year of 2015, LG shipped 59.7 million devices, an increase from 59.1 million in 2014. The real news, though, is LG states that the company will release, “two new flagship models and a more cost-competitive value chain,” to improve profitability in the new year. “The smartphone marketplace is expected to be increasingly competitive in 2016 due to anticipated premium models from competitors and further price competition within the mass tier space. The introduction of two new flagship models and a more cost-competitive value chain is expected to improve profitability in 2016.” We can safely assume that one of the devices this portion refers to is the LG G5, set to be announced at MWC next month. In addition, we could also see a sequel to the V10, which a lot of people in the US seem to enjoy.
