Samsung, LG look to dominate US 5G phone market

By Jun Ji-hye

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics plan to release mobile phones supporting fifth-generation (5G) networks in the United States next month, seeking to spearhead leadership of the North American 5G market ahead of Apple and other rivals, industry sources said Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics released the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G on April 5 in Korea, while LG Electronics will launch its V50 ThinQ 5G network-enabled smartphone here on April 19.

According to sources, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G will make its U.S. debut with Verizon on May 16.

Earlier this month, Verizon launched its mobile 5G networks using Motorola's 5G-upgradable phone Moto Z3, with critics saying the U.S. mobile carrier offered a very partial, “4.5G service,” failing to launch genuine 5G services.

LG Electronics is also planning to release the V50 ThinQ 5G in the U.S. next month in partnership with Sprint.

“The exact date for the launch has yet to be decided,” an official from LG Electronics said.

Sprint earlier said it was going launch commercial 5G services in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City starting in May, and will expand the services to other cities including New York in the latter half of the year.

Samsung and LG are expected to be uniquely positioned to deliver the next-generation smartphones in the North American market as their biggest rival Apple is not expected to release a new iPhone supporting 5G until next year at the earliest.

Other rivals such as Huawei and Xiaomi have yet to officially release their smartphones in the United States.

“Samsung and LG will be able to lay the foundations for breaking the stronghold of Apple as the three companies have maintained the top three positions in the North American market,” an industry official said, asking not to be named. “How fast Samsung and LG can enhance their presence in the U.S. 5G market will be the key.”

Samsung said the Galaxy S10 5G puts the unrivaled power, speed and connectivity of 5G networks directly into the hands of consumers. With speeds up to roughly 20 times faster than fourth-generation (LTE) networks, consumers on 5G networks can download a full season of a TV show in minutes, play graphics-rich cloud games, stream 4K video with virtually no lag and enjoy enhanced VR and AR experiences.

LG said the thin and light V50 ThinQ 5 offers rich multimedia features and a highly stable platform.

It said it has selected the V series as its smartphone for 5G networks, considering users put a bigger emphasis on utilization of multimedia features such as games and video clips in the 5G era.