No LG Nexus 5X followup planned for 2016

LG and Google are taking some time off. LG says she needs to work on herself, and Google, well, he’ll be seeing other people. Although the relationship was a happy one, this hiatus between the two means that we won’t be seeing a Nexus 5 or Nexus 5X successor any time soon.

The decision was made by LG. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a spokesperson in true it’s-not-you-it’s-me fashion said that the reasons for this break were because “LG needs to focus on its own brand.” The offspring of the two companies’ past interludes, the Nexus 5, was extremely popular among Android fans, who loved how much bang this device sported for relatively few bucks. Its also-affordable sibling, the Nexus 5X, is a pretty sweet device, but it suffered an experience similar to a movie hitting theaters the same weekend as Star Wars, since HUAWEI’s far more premium Nexus 6P hit the market around the same time.

In spite of this time apart, LG and Google are allegedly still friends, with spokespersons saying that the Korean electronics company is “totally happy” with the Nexus phones they’ve worked on and their relationship with the search giant. However, building a Nexus device requires a heavy resource investment, and LG wants to spend those working on products that are recognizably their own.

Perhaps due in part to this reallocation of resources,  LG’s previously recalled smartwatch, the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE, looks like it will be reintroduced to the market in the second or third quarter of this year. Fans may recall that this device went for sale briefly, but was subsequently recalled due to hardware issues. Moreover, LG has stated that they will also be releasing an additional smartwatch during this same time frame. Details of this device are forthcoming.

What do you think of LG taking a break from Nexus design? Good idea from a business perspective, or missed opportunities waiting to happen? Let us know your take on this development in the comments below.