LG Electronics is rumored to adopt several new technologies, including iris recognition and mobile payment for its upcoming flagship smartphone, G6.
Experts said the tech firm needs to blow the competition out of the water with the G6 in order to make up for the 800 billion won ($67 million) loss caused by the failure of the previous G5 model.
LG recently unveiled a new type of all-in-one module that could serve as both a camera and an iris scanner at the Korea Electronics Show in October. Industry sources predict the technology is likely to be applied to the G6 considering its bigger competitor Samsung’s latest moves to adopt iris recognition in its new devices.
G6 is also reported to adopt a mobile payment system, dubbed LG Pay, using Magnetic Secure Transmission, or MST solution, similar to Samsung Pay.
The MST solution allows for easy payment by touching a smartphone to magnetic card readers used in most retail stores.
LG is also expected to ditch the non-removable battery, which was adopted in the G5 model. It will instead use a removable battery for the issues of safety and yield -- which refers to the amount of salable products able to be produced. Samsung’s Note 7, which was discontinued due to exploding batteries, used a non-removable battery.
LG Electronics declined to comment on the specifications of the upcoming G6.
The tech company, which had a cumulative loss of around 800 billion won from the failure of G5, is pinning its hopes for the next flagship device G6, according to industry watchers.
“Unlike strong sales in home appliances and television, LG posted historical losses from its mobile communication unit this year. For a rally in shares, the rebound from G6 is important next year,” said Kim Ji-san, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.
Noh Keun-chang, a senior analyst at HMC Investment Securities, said, “The speed of loss reduction in the MC unit is critical next year as the TV profitability may go down due to the price stabilization of LCD panels.”
By Shin Ji-hye (
shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
