Benefiting from Delay in Foldable Phone Launch

LG Electronics' first 5G smartphone V50 ThinQ

LG Electronics' first 5G smartphone, the V50 ThinQ is gradually filling up the vacuum in the phone market left by the delayed launch of the foldable phones by other companies. LG Electronics started to launch the new phone in Australia and Europe, going beyond Korea and the United States, its main markets.

Industry watchers said on June 6 that the V50 ThinQ will be on the Australian smartphone market through Telstra, Australia's largest mobile carrier, on June 11. This is the third 5G smartphone to be launched in Australia, following Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S10 5G and Oppo’s Reno 5G. The V50 ThinQ, which features a dual screen, is priced at 1,728 Australian dollars (1.42million won).

LG will also make full-fledged entry into the European market. The V50 ThinQ is already on the market in Switzerland and the company is preparing for launch in the U.K., Spain and Italy.

By attaching a dual screen made of two 6.2-inch screens to the V50 ThinQ, the user can multitask with YouTube, messages, games and internet searching on the two screens. Currently, LG smartphone market share is only 1 percent in Europe, but the dual screen V50 is expected to boost it.

Global market research firm Counterpoint Research reported that worldwide foldable phone shipments are expected to be 1.8 million units, down to 60 percent of the 3 million units projected earlier this year. In order to maintain the popularity of its dual screen phones, LG Electronics plans to release a dual screen version 2.0 during the second half of this year.

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