After a month, LetsGoDigital reported on a possible new smartphone series from LG. The Korean manufacturer has registered the model name LG M10 in home country Korea. No M-series model has been released before. The LG W series was unveiled a month earlier in India. The W10, W30 and W30 Pro are the first models in this new line-up. Whether the M-series is comparable to the W-series is as yet unknown, but we can report that LG has now submitted three more applications for as yet unknown M-series.
LG M10, M20, M30 and M40
On July 8, 2019, LG Electronics submitted four trademark applications to the KIPRIS (Korean Intellectual Property Office). These are the names M10, M20, M30, and M40.
All four applications are categorized as Class 9, with the description ‘smartphones’. The applications for the LG M-series, M20, M30 and M40 were published later than the M10 so that they were not visible in the KIPRIS database before.
The new applications confirm our suspicion that the M10 will be the entry model. LG applies the principle to work with tens for most smartphone series. This applies to the recently introduced W-series, the budget K-series, the mid-range Q-series, and the high-end V-series. LG also seems to want to use this strategy for the G-series, as appeared from a series of trademark applications last month.
The fact that LG has now registered the names M10, M20, M30, and M40 does not automatically mean that all these telephone models will be introduced simultaneously. There are as yet no details regarding the specifications, it is likely to be a new budget or middle-class line-up.
It could just be the counterpart of the Samsung Galaxy M series. Samsung has also released an M10, M20, M30, and an M40 this year.
Possibly the LG M-series will show similarities with the recently introduced W-series. The latter model series is (for the time being) only available in India. Perhaps the new smartphone models will initially only appear in Korea. Earlier this year, the LG Q60 was only introduced in Korea and a few other countries, four months later an extensive launch followed, including in the Netherlands.
Falling sales of LG smartphones
As a smartphone manufacturer, LG not had it easy over the past period. Sales have been falling for quite some time, while Chinese manufacturers are gaining an increasing market share. Last year a new director was appointed in November, who had to give the loss-making LG Mobile a new boost.
Brian Kwon was already at the head of LG’s successful home entertainment business. Mr. Kwon would, therefore, be the suitable candidate for allowing LG’s mobile division to return to a positive course. Unfortunately for LG, the new appointment has not led to any improvement to date. Sales numbers are still falling.
In fact, earlier this year the parent company, LG Electronics, also presented negative quarterly figures for the first time in 2 years. These red figures were the result of the poorly performing mobile division. In other sectors, such as home appliances and TVs, the Korean manufacturer still shows green figures.
It has been speculated for a long time that LG will introduce fewer new phone models. Yet this is not yet the case. The company is still trying to innovate and adapt to the constantly changing needs of consumers. The newest flagship devices also have some unique functions.
The LG G8 ThinQ, announced earlier this year, is equipped with palm recognition, Sound on Display technology and a 3D selfie camera. The LG V50 ThinQ is the first 5G phone in the company. There were plans to release a unique accessory for this high-end smartphone, through a special phone case with a display. You can turn this device into a dual-screen phone.
The company also tries to show innovations in the budget and middle-class segments. The time will tell whether this is sufficient. For the time being, LG is not going to get out of the field. This proves both the recently introduced W-series and the new trademark applications for the not-yet-announced M-series.
