LG App Store Launching in Asia

It seems that there are now 2 things in life that make you as a mobile phone manufacturer, the first is having one of your handsets on the Google Android Operating System and the second is now having your very own app store.

LG Electronics Inc, the world’s No. 3 handset maker, is launching an online store for mobile phone applications Tuesday with an initial focus on Asia and aspirations for a more global reach by year-end.

Phone makers and mobile firms worldwide are in a race to match the success of Apple’s App Store, creating their own virtual stores where users can download software and content.

Improving software is key for South Korean mobile phone makers Samsung and LG, which have grown on well-priced handsets but are lagging in the fast-growing smartphowne category.

LG, which trails Nokia and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in mobile phones, said in a statement on Monday that the "LG Application Store" would provide 1,400 applications including 100 free programs, available in 15 languages.
ad_icon

The service will first be offered in Asia-Pacific countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Australia and will reach Europe and the South America by the end of this year, with the number of applications to be offered to increase to more than 2,000 by then, LG said.

LG has not set any firm plan to launch the marketplace in the United States, the stronghold of Apple’s iPhone and Research In Motion’s Blackberry.

What I find really funny though is that this is not a “new concept” and infact “app stores” have been around for a vey long time indeed and you only have to look at the symbian operating system to see that. Whilst not effectively an “app store”, applications have been getting released and sold through my sybian for a number of years.

This however does come as a welcomed move and the limelight should’t be taken away from LG, they are growing faster than ever and striving to put the customers wants first.

Posted by: John