LG Working on A Blockchain Smartphone to Compete In the Global Market
Smartphone manufacturers across the globe are increasingly tapping into blockchain to give users added security and better control over their devices. Internal sources from South Korea confirm that tech giant LG is working on a blockchain smartphone to compete with Samsung’s offering of Klaytn blockchain handsets.
As reported by local news publication IT Chosun, LG is currently talking to blockchain and DApp (decentralized applications) developers to work on the company’s future product offerings.
Two months back in July 2019, LG also filed a trademark application in the U.S. and South Korea for a digital wallet that can store digital currencies. However, the company has been facing some hurdles moving ahead with the project.
An unnamed LG official told the publication: “LG is likely to respond to Samsung’s innovation initiative. LG has been struggling to apply blockchain to smartphones without any dissimilarity. I think Samsung is trying to prepare differently in the blockchain field just as LG responded with a dual screen when Samsung Galaxy came out with a foldable phone.”
LG's arch-rival Samsung has been working on its blockchain smartphone plans for quite some time. Earlier this year, Samsung launched the Keystore for its blockchain handsets. The Samsung Blockchain Keystore is a DApps store which also provides support for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
Moreover, to expand its industry reach, Samsung has also partnered with Korean messaging giant Kakao Corp which will introduce some blockchain capabilities to Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 10 handset.
The Note 10 is also referred to as the Klaytn phone as it will host a wallet for holding Kakao’s KLAY tokens.
On the other hand, Samsung is also planning to give a big push to its DApps ecosystem on mobile devices. The company has introduced support fro some of the popular Apps in different industries. These include crypto-collectibles platform CryptoKitties, beauty community Cosmee, crypto gaming platform Enjin, and merchant payment service CoinDuck.
It looks like the competition in South Korea’s crypto industry will intensify further with time. It would be interesting to see Korea’s blockchain industry expand and become more competitive with innovative new solutions and big giant chip-in.