BARCELONA -- LG Electronics, in its newest attempt to seize the global smartphone market, is choosing fundamentals over “unnecessary” innovation, its chief said Monday.
“(The) LG smartphone has so far targeted a niche market for a minority of enthusiasts. However, as the smartphone market has become more mature, it is becoming hard to make new innovation,” LG Electronics chief Jo Seong-jin told reporters Monday at Mobile World Congress, which kicked off in Barcelona on the same day.
“Instead of making unnecessary innovation, we want to focus on the fundamentals of smartphones such as safety and quality,” Cho added.
LG’s new phone G6 unveiled Sunday has no dramatic innovations but has introduced improved features in frequently used functions such as its screen and camera.
LG Electronics chief Jo Seong-jin talks with the company executives at MWC 2017. (LG Electronics)
The CEO, who had looked around exhibits by rival companies at the MWC, expressed his confidence about the success of G6.
“I believe G6 has a high chance of success,” he said, although admitting the “smartphone is a very tough market as it depends on initial popularity unlike home appliances.”
In line with what LG’s mobile chief said Sunday, the company plans to streamline its smartphone models to make the business more profitable.
“Compared to home appliances, it is harder to respond to the fast-changing smartphone market. Instead of making various platforms little by little, we are considering producing in bulk and sharing parts on a proper platform,” Cho said, adding the method has been useful in home appliance production.
This means the company plans to provide only some lucrative smartphone models in bulk and use common parts to save costs.
Before returning to Korea, the CEO left for Frankfurt, Germany, on Tuesday to meet with the firm’s European partners and clients.
The G6 comes with a 5.7-inch (14.5-centimeter) Quad HD liquid-crystal display panel with a ratio of 18:9. The world’s first 18:9 ratio provides users with greater immersion than previous displays and allows consumers to multitask by using a dual-screen feature.
By Shin Ji-hye / Korea Herald correspondent (
shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
