At the Mobile World Congress 2014, Korean device vendor LG will unveil three smartphones — L40, L70, L90 – under the L III series in a bid to improve market share against Lenovo and Huawei.
Recently, Gartner said LG, the fourth largest vendor, increased its smartphone market share to 4.8 percent in 2013 from 3.8 percent in 2012. Samsung smartphone market share rose to 31 percent to 30.3 percent during the period.
The Q4 smartphone share of Huawei is 4.8 percent. Gartner said Huawei smartphone sales grew 85.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 to maintain the No. 3 spot. Huawei’s overseas expansion delivered strong results in the fourth quarter of 2013, with growth in the Middle East and Africa, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and Europe.
Though LG is the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the year 2013, its position in the fourth quarter of the year was five, well Lenovo. In Q4 2013, LG had 4.5 percent smartphone market share against Lenovo’s 4.6 percent.
Gartner expects smartphones to continue to drive overall sales in 2014 and an increasing number of manufacturers will realign their portfolios to focus on the low-cost smartphone sector. Sales of high-end smartphones will slow as increasing sales of low- and mid-price smartphones in high-growth emerging markets will shift the product mix to lower-end devices. This will lead to a decline in average selling price and a slowdown in revenue growth.
The new launches are aimed at capturing more share — especially when Lenovo will be completing the acquisition of Motorola Mobility and Microsoft will grab Nokia phone business this quarter.
LG Electronics today said all L Series III models will come with Android 4.4 KitKat OS.
Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications, said: “From the design to the OS to the UX, the L Series III exemplifies LG’s commitment to bringing the best smartphone experience. L Series III will be a strong volume driver in 3G markets.”
All these three smartphones do not have exciting specifications. For instance, L90 key specifications include 1.2 GHz Quad Core processor, 4.7-inch IPS (960 x 540) qHD display, 8GB / 1GB RAM memory, 8.0MP / 1.3MP camera, 2,540mAh removable battery, Android 4.4 KitKat OS, 131.6 x 66.0 x 9.7mm and 3G (HSPA+21Mbps) capability.
