These days have been published the financial results for the first quarter of the year for various companies that are strongly committed to the field of mobility. Apple has stuck a good smack – the first in 13 long years while Samsung news is much better. Something similar happens with Sony – the Nipponese do not raise head – and also with Lenovo and Xiaomi, they lose relevance for Oppo and Vivo.
The sector of smartphones has no pity: many try to conquer, but few succeed. This is a small tribute to a company that has spent years trying to make things right, but above all about doing things differently. LG is the company again and again differs from the rest, but that does not seem to be enough, and that, dear readers, is a tragedy.
Red numbers for mobile LG
LG accounts do not go. In its latest financial results it is clear that repeated attempts to differentiate LG and try different things not just sprout well to the South Korean company. The red dyed these results, which this time showed a loss of 168 million dollars in its mobile division.
Much of those losses were due to marketing efforts to promote the LG dedicated G5 these past weeks, but even that seems to have caused a significant impact on sales, which have fallen by 15.5% in revenue and 12% in number of units shipped (13.5 million terminals) in the first quarter.
The truth is that LG’s efforts do not seem to bear fruit: its global market share in the segment of smartphones was remarkable few years ago, but the thrust of other manufacturers, especially those located in China has made the relevance this division of LG is still somewhat disappointing. Fortunately the company will save -of only too well its other divisions, such as appliances, but the funny thing is that it is one of the few that tries to innovate iteration after iteration in its high-end devices.
Brave as few
Of course, numbers are only part of the story. The other part is precisely what makes the situation is particularly tragic LG, because if there is a company that over and over again is renewed with differential ideas, this is LG.
The company demonstrated nearly three years ago that LG G2 who had qualified “giant” -and that he had a 5.2 inch screen where we watched the curious system of buttons on the back of it as it was expected love-hate reactions are provoked important. That was not the only differential and brave feature that device: suddenly we had a terminal enduring almost two days without breaking a sweat.
A year later we were with the LG G3, which was the first of the great (also in size, going to 5.5 inches) in daring with a 1440p display (2K) that was ahead of its time. It made the team lost in the prestigious whole battery in the previous model, but certainly showed the way the entire industry. The LG G3 will be blamed the use of plastic, with metallic appearance, yes- on the back, but even also critiqued a size that we considered excessive. Time, once again, end up giving the reason for the decision of this manufacturer.
In the LG G4 South Korean Company he demonstrated once again want to differentiate them from the competition in a section that had repeatedly criticized: the design. Instead of going to metal or curved screens – LG already had its Flex for that, another sign of his bravely took on a back cover with a green skin that surprised by his touch and grip, although again not to become the definitive argument the company expected sales.
It did not matter that his powerful camera also 16 Mpixels would offer even a RAW mode and manual control: competition again in sales overtake “the damn metal” that was still associated with a true high-end terminal. Neither helped failure risk with another of the most interesting improvements moment- the fingerprint reader ductile- something curious for one who had actually been too conservative in the choice of processor, Snapdragon 808 that allowed him to save themselves from the problems that Snapdragon controversial first batch of 810.
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And finally we come to LG G5, a device which again would a differential proposal that no one in the market has been able to match. The LG Friends, the modules that can extend the capabilities of the terminal, demonstrated that a mobile can be when we need it most. It may be more camera, or audio playback equipment, or simply more durable thanks to the battery-cartridge is inserted with that curious coupling system accessories.
What’s wrong with the LG G5? Apparently, nothing Here LG has listened finally to respectable in the choice of materials: we have a device in which the metal is the protagonist, but also not only have this modularity: also with a unique dual camera system that can give much play when we need angles larger or smaller.
Here the problem may be that both the camera and the LG Friends are still somewhat green. They are flashy, but not particularly differential at least, not as much as many dearness- and must take into account that they are not particularly cheap.
Rewarding did you bored?
And while there have IDC data in which we see companies that have grown are not as innovative. Stresses certainly Huawei, who is doing a truly remarkable job in their terminals and on your Huawei P9 immerses himself in the fight with the big, especially by the striking dual camera that seems to go beyond that achieved by LG in G5.
Samsung and Apple have not made great revolutions in their latest handsets -a latter that it seems that could have adjudicator- but surprised to see how in the Top 5 disappear Lenovo and Xiaomi (the first perhaps it has something deserved, but the Xiaomi Mi 5 brings us back to the old Xiaomi mobile chollos) in favor of a Oppo and Vivo that are not particularly revolutionary course.
Here the surprising growth Oppo were not as surprising thanks to its powerful midrange and some other innovative decision like using the USB port and headphone port – attentions that could be the norm in the future – but in the live case those amazing sales if we have caught most off guard.
Some already warned for months: not paying much attention to sales in e-commerce and back to pay more attention to the channel and dealer network has given very good results in China (and beyond) to these two manufacturers.
But of course, also it benefits them being local manufacturers in a country where subsidies and support to this industry are making these companies in surprising references in the market. LG cannot boast of such – nor support others with which it competes, true – but that does not seem to stop this company in its search for innovation, differentiation and originality.
Hopefully not continue those efforts. And above all, let’s hope that bet ends bearing the fruits that these products deserve.