LG is working on a phone that runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system, with the handset currently at R&D phase.
According to Indian website Lightreading.in, LG is in the process of making its first Windows Phone 8 mobile.
LG India MD Soon H Kwon says that “we are actually working on our Windows Phone 8 OS powered smartphone,” although had no specific release plans to share about the device.
Although LG produced one of the first Windows Phone 7 mobiles, in the shape of the LG Optimus 7, this phone – if released – will be the first Windows Phone 8 handset to come from the company.
Kwon explained the company’s renewed interest in the Microsoft platform, saying “we believe that Windows will pick up going ahead, as Microsoft is pumping efforts into it.”
The future of Windows Phone 8
Reports on the future of Windows Phone vary wildly depending on where you look, though.
A Canalys report released in June 2013 suggests that Windows Phone will have a fairly healthy 12.7 per cent share of the mobile market by 2017. However, the latest figures show Windows Phone’s share shrinking.
Recent comScore stats analysing US mobile market share drop from 3.2 per cent to just 3 per cent between Q1 2013 and Q2 2013 – from bad to (slightly) worse.
To date, the highest-profile Windows Phone devices have come from Nokia. Its Lumia-series mobiles such as the Lumia 925 and Lumia 800 have been given far greater marketing support than any other Windows Phone handsets.
LG Phones
Although LG is considered a diminishing star in the mobile firmament by some, its production of the Google Nexus 4 has actually seen its market share rise in the last year.
It mobile market share in Q1 2013 was 4.9 per cent, up from 3.2 per cent in Q1 2012. However, Kantar Worldpanel ComTech says LG’s increase in share is “almost solely driven” by the Nexus 4.
The most obvious issue – the Google Nexus 4 is not universally recognised as an ‘LG’ phone.
Google’s next phone was initially expected to be made by Motorola, the mobile arm of which was bought by Google in 2012.
However, reports surfacing as recently as a month ago suggest LG will be behind the Google Nexus 5. Perhaps LG’s mobile fortunes are set to continue.
Next, read our round-up of the best Windows 8 tablets
