Few of you need a brief history lesson when it comes to how long it took LG to start making some decent Android smartphones. If I could sum it up in just two words for you, they would be “a while.” The first sexy LG handset that comes to mind when I think of Android smartphones is the T-Mobile G2x, and that was released just a few months ago–well after Motorola, HTC and Samsung had been cranking out desirable Android handsets for years. Now we’re learning that LG might have turned down the opportunity to build the first Android smartphone. Why?
UnwiredView gives us a nice little breakdown of what LG went through since the iPhone was released:
LG went on to tinker with its Chocolate franchise and build iPhone wannabe’s like LG Prada and Arena. Then they made an ill fated strategic bet on Windows Mobile in early 2009, just as Microsoft was end-of-lifing the OS and switching its development resources to Windows Phone 7. Leaving LG without the needed expertise and competitive hardware in 2010, just as smartphone growth exploded.
Remember what a nightmare those Prada and Chocolate phones were like? Sensitive touch buttons that never worked when you wanted them to, and would work in your pockets when you didn’t? And the original Prada phone was a real failure in terms of style and function: the phone was easily scratched, too small to actually be usable and the resistive touchscreen was a nightmare to use.
Apparently, when Google was still brewing Android, it had a deal with LG to build its first phones. We know that HTC ultimately picked up the deal and build the T-Mobile G1, and, well, HTC now cranks out smartphones like the EVO 4G, EVO 3D, Thunderbolt and Inspire. Meanwhile, LG’s own Android presence in the high-end market is rather limited, but it’s getting there. Perhaps a slight head start might’ve helped, but we’ll never know.
[Via: UnwiredView]
