LG to unveil G5 smartphone in February

LG Electronics sent out an invitation for the unveiling event for the firm’s next flagship smartphone model to the global media and industry officials on Wednesday.

The next flagship phone will be, as widely predicted, the long-awaited G5 for which the Korean firm has recently filed a trademark application at the Korean patent office, according to an industry official.

The save-the-date announcement indicated that the event would be held in Barcelona on Feb. 21, a day before the start of the Mobile World Congress trade show.

The latest move of LG, which seems aimed at stealing the thunder from its compatriot rival Samsung Electronics, which is also rumored to take the wraps off the Galaxy S7 in February, came amid its dwindling smartphone sales.

LG, once considered as one of the “big three” smartphone-makers with frontrunners Samsung and Apple, was outpaced by Chinese competitors Huawei and Xiaomi to take the fifth spot in the global market in terms of market share in the third quarter last year, according to market researcher IHS.

Rumor has it that the upcoming LG smartphone will feature a fingerprint sensor on the back, two rear-facing cameras -- the main one being a 16MP shooter and the other for 135-degree angle functionality-- an 8MP front-facing camera, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, and a 5.3-inch display.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)