LG announced earlier this week that it would be fully leaving the smartphone market by the end of July 2021. At the time of this announcement, it committed to provide current LG smartphone owners with a few OS updates. LG today announced that all of its premium devices will receive up to three OS updates from the year of purchase.
All premium LG devices released in 2019 or later will receive three more OS updates. This includes smartphones like the G series, V series, Velvet, and recently released Wing. Certain devices released in 2020 like the LG Stylo and K series will only get two OS updates. LG noted that these “future updates will depend on Google’s distribution schedule as well as other factors such as device performance and compatibility.”
LG Wing
LG stated that it will continue to manufacture devices until the end of June to honor current contracts. Consumers can therefore still purchase whatever devices are left in inventory. Some devices may even continue to be for sale after July 31st. LG noted that these newly-purchased devices will continue to receive updates “for a period of time for certain devices,” but did not provide any further elaboration.
This is a rather interesting promise as LG is notorious for delayed or nonexistent updates. LG created a “Upgrade Software Center” in 2018 to remedy the issue, but the center has not been terribly successful. Many of LG’s current premium devices are reportedly not scheduled to receive Android 11 until the end of 2021. LG’s promise is certainly more generous than ones made by other companies, which typically promise about two years worth of OS updates. However, LG’s past behavior leaves us a bit skeptical.
LG’s current plans for the future of their company are to focus on other areas such as components for electric vehicles, connected devices and smart homes, robotics, AI, and business solutions. The company will also use its knowledge of 6G to obtain a competitive edge in these markets and continue to use any technologies that were developed by the mobile division in other products.
