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by rickdeckard
69 days ago
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I don't see how that's technically any less possible than a Galaxy Fold (6 years ago!). The flaws on the screen, risk of dust etc. is the very same as the first release from Samsung. Some bits of background information: ##. The sample shown here is not production-ready, it's a revision "DV2" (visible at timestamp 5:50 in the upper left corner of the device) which was hand-assembled approximately one year before the planned launch (~Oct/Nov 2019) to be presented at CES and closed-door customer meetings. DV stands for "Development version", which is the phase where all the parts are assembled to proceed development in the various SW/HW/Quality Teams. In LG-terms that means it was only the SECOND revision of that hardware that the R&D built. Usually there were 4-5 additional revisions on mechanical design, board layout, RF-tuning etc. before entering mass-production (LG cycle: EV->DV1->DV2->DVx->PV1->PV2->MP--> Mass-production) The MP-revision is the initial mass-production test, where the factory tested if they can efficiently mass-produce this design by producing ~500pcs and keeping notes on issues and difficulties to fix before entering actual high-volume production. |
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Meanwhile sales of the last flagships LG G8, V50, V60 was behind expectations, the period required a massive increase in R&D investment to commercialize 5G technology and Chinese vendors (Xiaomi, Oppo/Vivo/OnePlus, Lenovo) made a huge push into international carrier-markets.
It was all on thin ice already, but there were also some great Mid/High-tier devices in the pipeline, LG was in the lead for commercializing 5G in many markets and had a few aces up its sleeve for the coming quarters like this rollable device.
Then COVID came. Global Sales of the industry collapsed, everything became slower and also semiconductor pricing exploded.
The companies which made it through COVID better than others were those who already had solid brands and high-volume sales before that period. They had the warehouses filled with tested and launched devices, they cut a bit on profit, increased a bit on price and prepared a semi-hibernation mode.
LG's mobile division was not in such a state in most markets. It wasn't profitable for several quarters at this point, and it was clear that it won't be profitable for several quarters to come.