Bucking the Trend
While smartphone sales have dropped due to the spread of the new coronavirus, LG Electronics' budget model has been bucking the trend.
The Q51 released by LG Electronics in Korea on Feb. 26 has sold two times more than the company’s previous budget models.
The Q51 retails at 319,000 won and features a 6.5-inch large screen and a rear triple-lens camera (13 million, 5 million, and 2 million pixels). LG Electronics explains that the budget phone features some of the functions applied only to premium models, including 7.1-channel DTS: X stereophonic function.
LG Electronics is expected to follow a budget phone strategy this year. While the company has recently released the V60 ThinQ premium phone in the United States, it is expected to release the G9 ThinQ mass (popular) premium phone in Korea. The G9 ThinQ includes a dual screen like the V60 ThinQ but is cheaper.
Overseas, it launched the budget model W10 Alpha in the Indian market in February, which retails at 100,000 won. The W10 Alpha is a product that belongs to LG Electronics' India-specific lineup W series with a retailing price of 9,999 rupees (about 170,000 won).
In Europe and Latin America, the K series (K61, K51S, and K41S) will be launched in the second quarter of this year. This year, the company will release 5G budget smartphones, although specific model names have not been disclosed.
LG Electronics is also trying to slash cost by increasing the amount of original design manufacturing (ODM) and joint design manufacturing (JDM) for budget phones to more than 50 percent this year. The smartphone maker has made the decision to secure price competitiveness in the context of expanding its market share in emerging markets with low prices.