A showdown in the latest versions of big-sized innovation-savvy phones made by the two Korean household smartphone names Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics is set for September 21.

LG Electronics Inc. matched the date of release on its premium brand V30 with the market debut day of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note8.

LG Electronics will take pre-orders on the V30 between September 14 and 20, according to industry sources on Wednesday.

It is the first time the two go head-to-head with top-shelf phones. The hybrid big-screen phones of the two makers fell on the same month because this year’s release date has been modified by the discontinuation of Galaxy Note7.

Market analyst say LG Electronics’ decision to launch the V30 on the same day as the Galaxy Note 8 is a show of its strong confidence in its latest flagship premium phone. LG earlier released a teaser ad for the V30 with an image of a blue-colored pencil broken in half to shape letter V, hinting at its strong determination to take on the Galaxy Note 8. Blue is Samsung’s symbolic color.

The Galaxy Note8 will get a head start over the V30 as Samsung Electronics will take pre-order on its latest premium phone between September 7 and 14, a week earlier than LG.

It is reported that both LG and Samsung had initially planned for market release on September 15 but pushed back their schedule following the government’s announcement in June to lower mobile expenses by upping a monthly discount rate for a mobile phone subscription agreement from the current 20 percent to 25 percent.

The competition in the local mobile phone market is expected to intensify next month as ceiling on a headset subsidy will be removed on September 30 while smartphone makers will be releasing new strategic phones.

By Seo Dong-chul

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]