LG G7 Being Redeveloped 'From Scratch', Launch Set to Be Delayed: Report

LG is reportedly taking a fresh look at the development of LG G7, a move that could push the launch of its upcoming 2018 flagship smartphone to April. According to a report in the Korean media, LG Electronics vice-chairman and CEO Jo Seong-jin has ordered a revision in the LG G7, aiming to review the product from scratch.

According to sources of The Investor, "the G7 smartphone team of the company's mobile communications business was told to halt recent work related to development of the newest phone, and to review the new product from scratch." A new decision on the launch will reportedly be taken around Lunar New Year, which is on February 16. This means, the LG G7 won't be unveiled at Mobile World Congress, where rival Samsung is set to showcase Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ next month.

Last week at CES, Seong-jin had hinted this could indeed be the case. "We will unveil new smartphones when it is needed. But we will not launch it just because other rivals do," he had said.

Since this announcement, the report claims, a working order was sent to company employees to restart the strategy for this year's flagship.

Seong-jin also mentioned that LG Electronics might be considering retaining smartphone models for a longer duration of time, and may even experiment with different model names. An earlier report, earlier this month, about a possible rebranding of smartphones at LG.

According to earlier rumours, the 2018 flagship from LG is expected to sport an 18:9 aspect ratio display, with slimmer bezels than before. A dual camera setup is also speculated to be present on the handset. The smartphone is expected to be powered by the latest Snapdragon 845 processor, albeit after the Samsung Galaxy S9 that will be launched at MWC 2018 next month.