LG V30 Releasing Earlier In South Korea Amid Weak G6 Sales

LG is gearing up for its launch event for the V30 on Aug. 31, but the Android smartphone isn’t slated to hit the United States market until Sept. 28. Ahead of its U.S. debut, the multinational electronics company has decided to release the handset at an earlier date in its homeland amid not-so-impressive sales of its current G6 flagship.

Android Authority has learned recently that the LG V30 is scheduled to hit its home market on Sept. 15, which is 13 days earlier than the device’s U.S. debut. The publication got this information from an internal document that was leaked by an exclusive source.

The document contains LG’s plans for its next flagship phone, which is codenamed JOAN. Despite the attempt to conceal the handset’s identity, the fact that this device is set to be announced on Aug. 31 in Berlin gave it all away. Previous reports have already revealed that the V20’s successor is set to make its first appearance at the IFA exhibition in Berlin, Germany.

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Also disclosed in the leaked document is the scheduled opening of preorders for the V30 in the U.S. Apparently, just two days after the device’s release in South Korea, LG will be taking preorders from U.S. customers on Sept. 17. Another noteworthy discovery in the document is the fact that LG is launching the V series installment in Europe for the first time. However, it was not disclosed if the phone would arrive in Europe at the same time as the U.S., according to The Verge. Interestingly, the LG V30 is expected to launch globally on Sept. 28, so it’s safe to assume that it will hit Europe around the same time.

The news of an earlier South Korea release for the V30 comes after LG divulged that its G6 flagship isn’t doing well on the market. In a statement, LG said that the “challenging” quarter was unfortunately down to “weaker than expected premium smartphone sales and increase in component costs.” LG did not disclose its sales for Q2, but it did post a KRW 132.4 billion (US$117.27 million) loss.

Despite the huge loss, TechCrunch noted that LG’s mobile business did perform better this quarter than how it did in the same period last year. In the same quarter in 2016, the company recorded a loss of KRW 153.5 billion (US$132.10 million). Nevertheless, LG is determined to do better overall. The company is now poised to release its mid-range Q series in an effort to see better results in the second half of this year. This actually makes sense, considering that LG has seen an increase in sales of its more affordable smartphones in North America.

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The LG V30 is one of the most anticipated smartphones this year. If the previously leaked details turn out to be true, consumers could see the launch of a flagship device that comes with a 6-inch edge-to-edge OLED display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal memory and dedicated DAC. Rumors are also claiming that there could be a 6 GB RAM version of the phone. Given its impressive specs and features, the handset is also expected to help the company do well in the second half of 2017.