Rumor: LG stops Nexus 4 production for Nexus successors
updated 05:55 pm EST, Mon January 14, 2013
LG said to prep new Nexus devices for MWC
The LG-produced Nexus 4 smartphone, which Google has had significant trouble keeping in stock, may be put on the back burner by the Korean manufacturer in favor of newer Nexus handsets set to debut soon. At CES last week, LG Electronics senior vice president James Fisher hinted that the Nexus 4 was just "the first of many" Nexus products the company was working on, with the implication being that LG could be rolling out a Nexus tablet or smartphone device in the near future. Observers believe that LG could launch its next Nexus device as soon as this year's Mobile World Congress, to be held in Barcelona in late February.
The Nexus 4 quickly sold out after its release in November of last year, with Google's Play Store running out of stock in 24 minutes after it first became available. Soon after, word emerged that Google had oversold the device, with some customers receiving notice of a three-week backorder. The device also sold out at T-Mobile shortly after it became available on that carrier.
The rapid sell-outs are thought now to be more of a factor of short supply rather than overwhelming demand. Internet forum members, examining the serial numbers on their Nexus 4s, have been able to estimate the total number of Nexus 4 sales at around 400,000.
Should a Nexus 4 successor indeed debut in the coming months, International Business Times believes it may sport a 2GHz quad-core processor and an as-yet-unreleased version of Google's Android operating system, Android 4.3 Key Lime Pie.
The likelihood of such a device making an appearance at an LG event at Mobile World Congress is questionable, though, given that Google typically reserves such revelations for its own press events. The Nexus 4, for instance, was scheduled to debut at an October event, alongside the Nexus 10 tablet from Samsung and a revamped Nexus 7 tablet from Asus. That event was cancelled due to the approach of Hurricane Sandy, which was set to wreak havoc on New York City, where the press conference was to be held. A new LG Nexus device would likely debut at the next scheduled Google event, Google I/O, currently set for May 15 through May 17 of this year.
