No matter how good the V30 is, it still may not put a huge dent in sales of the duopoly.

[Mike Dee]

The V30 looks like it may be a hot ticket. Not so much for current fans of the V line because it appears to be losing features and adding features that current fans want and don't want. It remains to be seen as how this will impact sales. Obviously they will lose some old fans and gain some new. Question is what will the end result be? Will it be a step in the right direction or will it be a wash out?

The G6 certainly did better than the G5, but that's not saying much because the G5 was a sales disaster. The G6 had overcome negativity over the G5s modular disaster and the ever over shadowing negativity of bootlooping from prior designs. Though the G6 gained some ground , sales have not been as fruitful for LG as desired.

Can the V30 change all of that and put a dent in the duopoly? Is it enough to follow the leaders and include features that appeal to the masses?

It would certainly help if they were to include a collosal battery, improve the camera in auto mode and throw in a two year warranty while keeping it in an attractive price range. Yet is that still enough to make the top two leaders in the industry cringe?

LG really needs to step up their game and invest in some good advertising that really spreads the message if they want to begin gaining some ground.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

LG is making a slow march starting from the V20 to get past the QC issues which plagued the G3, G4, V10 and G5. While the V20 itself had those with the weaker than expected lens housing and the G6 with the well timed drops from very short distances, the V30 needs to be the first fully QC issue free device in a long time.

LG's V series was never intended to be mainstream, which is what upsets some fans as they are following the Samsung approach (Note is becoming more mainstream instead of power user focused). This phone won't break the duopoly up, but if it sells well and ages well enough, LG has hope for the G7 and V40 to build on for next year.

 

[Aquila]

It absolutely will not make a dent. LG isn't a top 5 OEM and #5 has 6% of the market by sales. Based on the latest quarter Samsung has 22% and Apple has 11%. Interestingly enough, those two stayed flat on their overall share year over year, while 3, 4 & 5 all went way up... Which means 6 and below shrunk. 6 and below went from a cumulative 46% to 41%. 6 and below are Lenovo, LG, Google, HTC, TCL, HMD, Asus, Sony, Vivo, ZTE, etc. In all there are a dozen or more other OEMs and the max is less than 6% and the average is about 3% of the market.

Blah blah blah blah, LG can double their sales year over year and still not enter the top 5, let alone challenge the big dogs. It's going to take several years of consistently huge growth and most of the new customers need to come from Samsung or Apple. And then LG can challenge Apple, with still many more years of work to do to challenge Samsung.

It's possible, but think minimum 5-8 years, not one device.

 

[Mike Dee]

LG is making a slow march starting from the V20 to get past the QC issues which plagued the G3, G4, V10 and G5. While the V20 itself had those with the weaker than expected lens housing and the G6 with the well timed drops from very short distances, the V30 needs to be the first fully QC issue free device in a long time.

LG's V series was never intended to be mainstream, which is what upsets some fans as they are following the Samsung approach (Note is becoming more mainstream instead of power user focused). This phone won't break the duopoly up, but if it sells well and ages well enough, LG has hope for the G7 and V40 to build on for next year.

As a prior owner of the G5 and current owner of the V20, I feel that the G5 QC issues were overblown as well as the weak camera lens issues for both the G5 and V20. The only issue that I had along with other owners was the GPS connectivity which required sending it to LG for repair. Most of the reported Camera lens that broke appear to be from customer neglect. I personally tested the cameras lenses on several G5, V20, S6 and S7 phones with a friend at Verizon. We experimented with some DOA units and all lenses shattered with a small amount of pressure applied with a key. The LG models were at slight disadvantage mainly because of the larger lens providing a bigger target. Of course perception is all that matters but the hardest thing for LG is to lose the bootlooping stigma.
Agreed that this phone won't break the top two but it may lay a good foundation for the future upon which it can build.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

As a prior owner of the G5 and current owner of the V20, I feel that the G5 QC issues were overblown as well as the weak camera lens issues for both the G5 and V20. The only issue that I had along with other owners was the GPS connectivity which required sending it to LG for repair. Most of the reported Camera lens that broke appear to be from customer neglect. I personally tested the cameras lenses on several G5, V20, S6 and S7 phones with a friend at Verizon. We experimented with some DOA units and all lenses shattered with a small amount of pressure applied with a key. The LG models were at slight disadvantage mainly because of the larger lens providing a bigger target. Of course perception is all that matters but the hardest thing for LG is to lose the bootlooping stigma.
Agreed that this phone won't break the top two but it may lay a good foundation for the future upon which it can build.

That's the thing... perception is all that counts. Some consumers go LG = bootloops (this includes Nexus 5X owners too). I have a V20 and really, really like it. I wanted a G6 but got a great deal on both a Mi Note 2 and the V20. Bigger question is: what's LG's market strategy? Between the V20 and G6, these were solid yet undermarketed phones. Are they going to do that again with the V30 assuming there are no QC issues (real or perceived)?

 

[Mike Dee]

It absolutely will not make a dent. LG isn't a top 5 OEM and #5 has 6% of the market by sales. Based on the latest quarter Samsung has 22% and Apple has 11%. Interestingly enough, those two stayed flat on their overall share year over year, while 3, 4 & 5 all went way up... Which means 6 and below shrunk. 6 and below went from a cumulative 46% to 41%. 6 and below are Lenovo, LG, Google, HTC, TCL, HMD, Asus, Sony, Vivo, ZTE, etc. In all there are a dozen or more other OEMs and the max is less than 6% and the average is about 3% of the market.

Blah blah blah blah, LG can double their sales year over year and still not enter the top 5, let alone challenge the big dogs. It's going to take several years of consistently huge growth and most of the new customers need to come from Samsung or Apple. And then LG can challenge Apple, with still many more years of work to do to challenge Samsung.

It's possible, but think minimum 5-8 years, not one device.

Good research and great perspective.

 

[Mike Dee]

That's the thing... perception is all that counts. Some consumers go LG = bootloops (this includes Nexus 5X owners too). I have a V20 and really, really like it. I wanted a G6 but got a great deal on both a Mi Note 2 and the V20. Bigger question is: what's LG's market strategy? Between the V20 and G6, these were solid yet undermarketed phones. Are they going to do that again with the V30 assuming there are no QC issues (real or perceived)?

Speaking of perception, the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P experienced bootloops as a result of an update and as you are aware, LG is not responsible for the 6P. People still lumped the 5X in with the G4 and V10 problems, though a totally different issue and Google came up with a fix.
LG at this point has to do some serious marketing on the features with mass appeal. It's nice they are talking about Google Daydream out of the box, but focusing on that may not be mainstream enough. They need to promote the sales appeal features that the less sophisticated consumers care about.

 

[mchi5]

LG's other branches, like it's TV and home electronics, are making a profit just that the mobile division keeps losing money.

I agree that even if the V30 is a
relative sales success it won't sell nearly as many as Samsung or Apple.

LG is moving in the right direction, with allegedly apple is paying $2.62 BILLION for OLED screens

https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/...rious-about-oled-displays-with-lg-investment/

And isn't the next Google Pixel 2 made by LG?

LG has other parts that are profitable but really need to turn their mobile division around.

 

[Mike Dee]

LG's other branches, like it's TV and home electronics, are making a profit just that the mobile division keeps losing money.

I agree that even if the V30 is a
relative sales success it won't sell nearly as many as Samsung or Apple.

LG is moving in the right direction, with allegedly apple is paying $2.62 BILLION for OLED screens

https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/...rious-about-oled-displays-with-lg-investment/

And isn't the next Google Pixel 2 made by LG?

LG has other parts that are profitable but really need to turn their mobile division around.

LG has no problem making money... It's just that its mobility division needs illumination.

 

[RaRa85]

No I don't think the V30 will make a dent in the duopoly although it will probably be deserving of it. As simple as it is, the iPhone and Galaxies are just the "it" phones. Most people don't care what Apple and Samsung do with their smartphones. They nust buy them based off history and popularity. Granted these phones are actually great phones but I could make some arguments as to why the V20 was the best phone of 2016 and still some of 2017 but it won't change the reality that the masses will overlook it just because its LG. LG will really need to have some clever marketing for the V30. The G6 went in the right direction with the marketing. The V20 ads were pretty good as well. Everything about the V30 points in the right direction though which unfortunately means less of a differentiation from what the V10 and V20 are though. You really can't find another phone like the V line up until now. However the V30 has the sexier although similar looks of the Samsung Galaxy, OLED(P-OLED actually) screen, most likely sealed battery and waterproof/IP68. So if it has all this plus the better features like QuadDAC, retains the IR blaster, first in class f/1.6 aperture sensor, and same great secondary sensor from the G6 why wouldn't it sell better than the GS8/Note 8, and iPhone 8? People just going with the trends and popular brands. At least for the Note line true fans get the added and unique functionality of the S-Pen which does add true value for those that use it. Other than that, how would any other phone be better than what the V30 can offer? I don't even count phones that don't even allow you to expand you storage so for me that eliminates the iPhone and Pixel. The V30 should be king of the hill yet another year in my opinion.

 

[Aquila]

@RaRa85 I find it super interesting how different our perspectives are on what makes a great phone. Based on your preferences, I think you're right that you can make a great case for the V20 being the leader of 2016.

 

[RaRa85]

@RaRa85 I find it super interesting how different our perspectives are on what makes a great phone. Based on your preferences, I think you're right that you can make a great case for the V20 being the leader of 2016.

Yep but I'm that target audience for the V line. But as far as features I think the only thing people can gripe about missing on the V20 are waterproof and wireless charging maybe. At least that's the two that come to mind. I highly value expandable storage not only because its cheaper than the price bumps the OEMS charge for the extra storage but the practicality of it. I went on a trip with a fresh 32gb storage card that I bought specifically for that trip. In that time I accidentally fried my phone in the saltwater ocean waters because I forgot to put it back in my waterproof case. I was not in the US so cloud backup wouldn't have saved me in that situation and all of photos and video would have been lost. I was able to recover the memory card and all the memories with it. I love shooting in manual as well, and LG has one of the best manual layouts in a stock camera app you can find. I love the hifi recording which I use quite often. IR blaster is useful when needed(too lazy to find the remote). What makes a great phone to you though?

Edit: Also I have to give it to Samsung for having the best mobile payment system in place. While Android Pay has served me well, Samsung Pay does have some advantages.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

No I don't think the V30 will make a dent in the duopoly although it will probably be deserving of it. As simple as it is, the iPhone and Galaxies are just the "it" phones. Most people don't care what Apple and Samsung do with their smartphones. They nust buy them based off history and popularity. Granted these phones are actually great phones but I could make some arguments as to why the V20 was the best phone of 2016 and still some of 2017 but it won't change the reality that the masses will overlook it just because its LG. LG will really need to have some clever marketing for the V30. The G6 went in the right direction with the marketing. The V20 ads were pretty good as well. Everything about the V30 points in the right direction though which unfortunately means less of a differentiation from what the V10 and V20 are though. You really can't find another phone like the V line up until now. However the V30 has the sexier although similar looks of the Samsung Galaxy, OLED(P-OLED actually) screen, most likely sealed battery and waterproof/IP68. So if it has all this plus the better features like QuadDAC, retains the IR blaster, first in class f/1.6 aperture sensor, and same great secondary sensor from the G6 why wouldn't it sell better than the GS8/Note 8, and iPhone 8? People just going with the trends and popular brands. At least for the Note line true fans get the added and unique functionality of the S-Pen which does add true value for those that use it. Other than that, how would any other phone be better than what the V30 can offer? I don't even count phones that don't even allow you to expand you storage so for me that eliminates the iPhone and Pixel. The V30 should be king of the hill yet another year in my opinion.

You really underestimate consumers. To think that Samsung and Apple owners buy them simply because they have the name Samsung or Apple on the box is wrong. Samsung phones have more features that are meaningful to most consumers than any other phones, beautiful and innovative designs, and the best displays. Apple makes phones that are the performance benchmark every year, are easy to use, and have the strongest software ecosystem. Both manufacturers make phones that are excellent to very good in pretty much every category.

People don't buy LG because they are known to be less reliable than other brands, their designs have mostly been terrible for years, and their LCD displays aren't as good as Apple's LCDs or Samsung's Super AMOLEDs. Samsung and Apple simply make better phones.

Having said that, I think that the V30 could be the device that rights the ship for LG. Whether it sells well or not, it is a strong move in the right direction for LG.

 

[RaRa85]

You really underestimate consumers. To think that Samsung and Apple owners buy them simply because they have the name Samsung or Apple on the box is wrong. Samsung phones have more features that are meaningful to most consumers than any other phones, beautiful and innovative designs, and the best displays. Apple makes phones that are the performance benchmark every year, are easy to use, and have the strongest software ecosystem. Both manufacturers make phones that are excellent to very good in pretty much every category.

People don't buy LG because they are known to be less reliable than other brands, their designs have mostly been terrible for years, and their LCD displays aren't as good as Apple's LCDs or Samsung's Super AMOLEDs. Samsung and Apple simply make better phones.

Having said that, I think that the V30 could be the device that rights the ship for LG. Whether it sells well or not, it is a strong move in the right direction for LG.

I also did not discredit that those popular devices are in fact great devices as well. Just that people often don't try something new or a product just as worthy of their money.

 

[EnemiesInTheEnd]

I also did not discredit that those popular devices are in fact great devices as well. Just that people often don't try something new or a product just as worthy of their money.

LG phones haven't been just as worthy of their money. The V30 could change that.

 

[RaRa85]

LG phones haven't been just as worthy of their money. The V30 could change that.

To a degree yes. They damaged their reputation with the trio of bootloop and quality control issues in previous years. I think they made the first right step with the V20 and then the G6 though. At the same time Samsung had a recall for a manufacturing defect and people were still willing to hold onto those phones. That says a lot about brand loyalty. But I think the V30 will continue to move LG more closer to a place of relevance.

 

[Mike Dee]

I think its safe to say a certain segment of the population buy a phone based on brand name recognition just as a certain segment buys based on features. Many buy based on carrier deals. Everyone chooses and buys for different reasons. Some buy a phone because they like the color.

 

[Aquila]

I think its safe to say a certain segment of the population buy a phone based on brand name recognition just as a certain segment buys based on features. Many buy based on carrier deals. Everyone chooses and buys for different reasons. Some buy a phone because they like the color.

Color is valid. The vast majority of consumers, at least in the US market, buy whatever their carrier salesperson tells them to buy.

 

[Mike Dee]

Color is valid. The vast majority of consumers, at least in the US market, buy whatever their carrier salesperson tells them to buy.

Absolutely,
At my daughter's former dance academy on any given day you could count the number of non-Iphones on one hand. Most of those owned by the kids were purchased for FaceTime and because they had to have an Iphone. A lot of the parents by them because they are simple to use. My brother has bought Samsungs for himself and his kids and he barely can set up voicemail by himself. At work we have Iphones, however many of us that are technical or systems people have Samsung or another device.

 

[JohnMcL7]

A lot of the blame for poor LG sales seems to be placed against superior branding and advertising from Samsung rather than the handset hardware but I think a lot of it is down to the handset hardware and where LG sell their phones. The V20 seemed a solid phone and a good alternative when Samsung so badly screwed up the Note 7 but bizarrely LG decided not to take advantage of that and didn't sell the phone at all in Europe and seemed to have a limited release worldwide.

The LG G6 was released here but an underspecced version (32GB only, no DAC) and sold at a high price, just a bit lower than the S8 which not only has the faster Snapdragon 835 and 64GB storage but a much more eye catching design with the large edge to edge AMOLED screen. The only general interest I've seen in the G6 here is in the grey import versions which are the higher spec 64GB/DAC models and nearly half the price of the inferior spec UK models, even allowing for a official duty paid UK version needing to be higher priced it looks like LG should have been able to significantly undercut the S8. However as it stands the LG G6 barely exists here and the S8's are everywhere and that's not down to branding or advertising, it's a lower spec handset being sold for a higher spec price against a phone which is a better spec.

I wouldn't expect the V30 to dent Samsung sales as based on the rumours so far, it doesn't seem to offer much in the way of advantages - the Note 8 has a larger screen and likely a similar physical size to the V30, it has a stylus, its dual camera is a wide angle and telephoto (which at the moment people seem to prefer the for the faux shallow DoF effect over a mix of ultra wide angle and wide angle) and it's likely it will look fancier in the flesh.

None of this is a dig at LG, I just don't find it constructive to claim LG's issues are only due to its branding and advertising. I don't like the Samsung design since the Note 4 and it's one of the main reasons I'm not keen on the S8+/Note 8 as I dislike the 'pretty' design and fragile bodies of these phones. I am disappointed the V30 is apparently also going to have a curved screen (I don't get the point of these at all) but I'm still hopeful for a more durable build than the Samsungs, an ultra wide angle lens (which I prefer over the telephoto) and a quad DAC in which case I'd go for one over the Samsung if it's a reasonable price and sold in the UK. I'm bracing myself for disappointment though as I can't see LG's approach to Europe changing and it's not a great sales strategy if customers can't even buy your phones.