LG to outsource Velvet 2 production next year

LG Electronics was planning to expand the use of original design manufacturer (ODM) for its smartphone production next year, TheElec has learned.

The company started using ODM in 2018 __ around 10% of handsets made that year was produced by contract makers. This increased to 30% in 2019 and will expand to 60% this year. 

In 2021, over 70% smartphones launched by LG will be made by ODMs.

The production of successor to LG Velvet, the first of what the company calls its Universal Lineup, launching next year will also be outsourced, people familiar with the matter said. 

Q92 smartphone and LG Stylo launching next year will also be made by ODM companies. They were produced by LG this year.

LG’s ODM partners include Wingtech, Huaqin and Longcheer in China.

The South Korean electronics maker is expected to ship 26 million units of smartphones in total this year. It is aiming to ship mid-30 million units next year.

Meanwhile, LG will produce strategically important models on its own next year. Its next flagship phone, codenamed Rainbow, and its rollable smartphones, codenamed B Project, will be produced by LG itself.

Rainbow will be launched within the first quarter of 2021. B Project will launch in March of 2021.

Rainbow will likely be level in specs to LG’s V series. The company last launched the V60 ThinQ 5G in the US in March. It used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 __ LG Velvet had used the Snapdragon 765.

B Project is the second model in what LG calls the Explorer Project. Last month, the first model of the Project called LG Wing was launched.  

The B Project will allow one of the sides of the front screen to be pulled to have the screen roll out to become a larger screen.