LG Looking to Long-Term Product Life Cycle in New AI-Based Flagship Smartphone
If the latest statistics on slowing smartphone sales weren’t enough, LG underscored the demise of the two- to three-year smartphone life cycle Tuesday with worldwide introduction of its latest flagship handset, the G7 ThinQ. IDC reported Wednesday that smartphone vendors shipped 334.3 million units in Q1, a 2.9 percent drop from the year-ago quarter, fueled by declines in the China market to sub-100-million shipment volumes, a level not seen since Q3 2013.
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LG executives pushed the G7’s potential longevity via “continuous software upgrades," at the phone’s New York debut Wednesday. LG Electronics North America President William Cho said the G7 ushered in the “third age of the smartphone” driven by the power of artificial intelligence designed to make consumers’ lives simpler and more productive.
David VanderWaal, vice president-marketing-consumer electronics and appliances, acknowledged the “dramatic switch” LG is taking by “not forcing consumers to buy a new phone." The company will introduce new AI phones “when the time is right, but we’re not going to launch them just because our rivals are doing so,” VanderWaal said. The company’s goal is to “deliver a great user experience that continues long after the purchase of an LG phone."
A consumer could use the G7 effectively “for as long as they want to,” VanderWaal told us. When we asked if that meant five or six years, VanderWaal said there's no limit LG envisioned, and lifecycle will depend more on carrier contracts than technology. The point of the G7 is to get consumers out of the mindset that they have to get a new phone “just because,” he told us. When we asked how LG justifies selling fewer smartphones under the new strategy, VanderWaal said, “We also develop a loyal consumer who believes that 'LG is the right brand for me because they’re looking out for me.'”
Frank Lee, director-LG mobile communications, told us software updates will happen “when it’s the right time,” and the company will keep its “finger on the pulse of what the trends are.” LG has a long view ahead with product road maps: “There’s stuff we’re seeing now that we had years ago,” he told us. The company was ready with the digital home network ahead of consumers’ readiness for connected appliances, he said. With the G7 smartphone, LG will leverage learnings from the electronics and home appliance group and apply them to mobile -- “and not feel like we have to find this set cadence,” Lee said.
Biometrics, such as face recognition, could be a future update, Lee said, saying “anything with AI is on the board.” With AI a key technology in the G7, LG has “just scratched the surface” of what’s possible, he said. “Because AI is built into the phone now, everything’s on the board for how we can improve it.” The AI software came out of LG’s DeepThinQ AI development tool, said Lee. AI was also a topic at a CTA event this week (see 1805010085).
Price wasn’t given for the flagship LG phone that’s expected in stores next month. It will come with a “second-year promise,” an additional year of warranty coverage to show LG’s confidence in the phone, said VanderWaal.
Like other flagship devices launched by major smartphone makers, LG executives focused on the phone’s camera features, saying the smartphone is most consumers’ primary camera. LG's AI will calculate optimal settings in the phone’s camera based on environment. The phone will know whether the subject is a person, animal, flower or pet and will “automatically adjust to get the best possible shot,” said VanderWaal. Users will get recommendations for how to improve the picture with filters, exposure or the wide-angle lens, he said. Software analyzes the subject using 1,000 image identifiers categorized into 19 shooting modes, he said. It will choose four color settings that will produce the best shot.
The G7 incorporates DTS:X virtual surround sound and a 32-bit hi-fi digital-to-analog converter in what LG calls the phone’s “boombox speaker.”
Google Assistant was beefed up in the G7 with noise-suppressing far-field voice recognition. The phone will pick up commands from nearly 17 feet away vs. previous phones' six-foot voice command range, said VanderWaal.
Lee touted LG’s “good relationship with Google” that lets it customize some of the phone’s capabilities. He noted LG launched "In Apps," which lets users search for contacts, photos, and videos across apps including Gmail and YouTube, a feature now integrated into the Android operating system. “We get to test with them,” Lee said, hinting at “interesting announcements next week” from Google I/O being held in Mountain View, California.