LG Electronics is taking its strategic smartphone G4 to the U.S. market, the largest smartphone market in the world. The G4, the fourth model of the G-series for LG Electronics, was released in Korea at the same time that it was unveiled to the global market, April 29.
According to sources in the industry on May 13, telecommunication companies such as Verizon and Sprint are planning to release the G4 as early as this month through a stipulation with LG Electronics, as the U.S. FCC completed the G4's certifications.
LG Electronics has been third in global sales revenues for the past several years. The key to the protection of this third position as well as taking “meaningful third place,” or narrowing the gap with the second placed Samsung Electronics, is the success of the G4 in the U.S. market, as earlier mentioned by President Cho Jun-ho of the MC Business Division of LG Electronics. President Cho has managed the production of the G4.
According to U.S. market survey firm Strategy Analytics (SA), LG Electronics has taken 12 percent of the market share last year, taking third place in smartphone sales volume. What stands out from the figure is that the U.S. market share of LG Electronics increased by 4.8 percentage points, while that of Apple (36.6%) and Samsung (26.9%) dropped by 1.4 percentage points and 1 percentage point, respectively.
The driving engine to show the steady competitiveness of LG smartphones in the North American region is the experience of success enjoyed with the Chocolate Phone in 2005. President Cho was the man that created the so-called “Chocolate Phone Legend.” He was the vice president of the mobile phone business in the North American division, and he saw great success with the Chocolate Phone in 2005, followed by another success with the Shine Phone in 2007, placing LG Electronics in second place in sales market share over Samsung Electronics. With the G4 pending its release in the U.S., both local media and consumers are showing great anticipation. U.S.-based IT media site GSM Arena said that according to a recent survey of premium smartphone preferences that the G4 beat its competing models, ranking first place in the premium smartphone market. According to the survey, the G4 beat the iPhone 6 by a wide margin, 5,827 votes vs. 1,494 votes in the competition for preference. It also won a narrow victory over the Samsung Galaxy S6, which received only 3,485 votes vs. the G4's 3,560, in another poll.