LG V40 ThinQ Codenamed ‘Storm’ Currently In The Works

LG seems to be serious when it said that it was planning on changing its smartphone strategy this year. A new rumor is circulating that LG is planning to release the LG V40 ThinQ later this year, possibly just months after the V35 ThinQ.

The LG V40 ThinQ is said to be in the works and it’s supposedly being called internally as “Storm,” according to notorious leaker Evan Blass. The upcoming handset will be released sometime in the late summer or in early fall. The existence of the handset is surprising since LG is already planning to officially launch the LG G7 ThinQ next month on May 2. Meanwhile, the V35 ThinQ is also expected to be announced shortly after the G7.

Let’s also not forget that the company has already launched the LG V30S ThinQ back in February at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018. This was a surprise to many and it may have been the first sign that LG was indeed changing up its smartphone strategy. MWC is typically when the company launches its next-generation G-series Android flagship smartphone.

There’s not a lot of information as to what the LG V40 ThinQ will offer. What seems clear as of now is that it’s part of LG’s V series of Android phones and it could be the “true” successor to last year’s LG V30, as pointed out by Android Authority. With that in mind, it seems safe to assume that the V40 ThinQ will be a flagship Android phone powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. Since the phone will carry the ThinQ branding, the handset could also come with artificial intelligence features that can improve its camera performance.

LG’s new smartphone strategy seems a bit odd and it could go either way. Releasing three V series smartphones in a single year could provide consumers with a lot of options and keep them interested with LG’s phones. But this could also backfire since launching new flagships so close to each other could confuse consumers and have an opposite effect.

LG’s mobile division struggled last year due to the lackluster sales of the LG G6. The company reported a total operating loss of 213.2 billion won ($192 million) in Q4 2017, which was actually slightly better than what analysts expected since the LG V30 had strong sales. In January, LG vice chairman Cho Seong-jin said that the company will no longer follow its usual timeline to launch its smartphones in order to improve its struggling mobile business.

“We will unveil new smartphones when it is needed. But we will not launch it just because other rivals do,” Cho said at the time. “We plan to retain existing models longer by, for instance, unveiling more variant models of the G series or V series.”