LG might be planning a change to its flagship lineup next year, dropping the experimental G Flex in favor of the G5 and V10. South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo posted an article to this effect on Web portal Daum, citing internal sources.
The report claims that LG is unlikely to continue the G Flex smartphone in 2016. The G Flex 2 did not achieve the same success as the original, forcing LG to jump off the flexible bandwagon, for now.
To make up for the loss of the G Flex, LG may continue the G5 and V10 next year. The G5 may launch around the same time it did this year, in April, while the V10 successor will supposedly arrive in the second half of the year.
G5 rumors have been circulating for a few months, and include a 5.6-inch display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 21-megapixel camera, and retina scanning. The April launch should give the South Korean electronics giant enough time to prepare for the global launch of LG Pay, its own payments service.
We haven’t heard anything about the next V10 successor, unsurprisingly. The smartphone was announced last month, and is still unavailable in some regions.
LG scrapped the G Pro range this year, which we suspected would end the six-month flagship cycle. That has not happened, however, given the launch of the V10, a new end-of-year flagship for customers who want a phone for Christmas.
There is always the possibility that a flexible phone will launch alongside the G5, similar to the S6 Edge or iPhone 6S Plus. Smartphone makers seem to be trending towards launching a family of smartphones with all different shapes and sizes, rather than a “one size fits all” approach.