Report: LG G6 won't be powered by Snapdragon 835 because of Samsung

We have been hearing a lot of rumors regarding the LG G6 lately. Some of them, like the 5.7-inch QHD+ screen with 18:9 aspect ratio, have already been confirmed, while others, including the chipset the smartphone would use, have not. As the G6 will be a flagship device, we expected that it would be powered by the latest Snapdragon 835 chipset. But according to a report from Forbes’s Ben Sin, LG’s upcoming phablet will ship with last year’s Snapdragon 821 under the hood.

You’re probably thinking, why would LG opt for an older chipset for their flagship device, right? Well, an “industry insider” that was talking to Forbes claims that Samsung will be the first manufacturer to get its hand on the new chipset, which will be used in the upcoming Galaxy S8. All the other companies — not just LG — have to take a back seat for now and will be able to get the Snapdragon 835 from Qualcomm after Samsung officially releases its flagship in mid-April.

The report is corroborated by Vlad Savov writing for The Verge. Savov’s sources confirmed that Samsung would get the first production run of the Snapdragon 835. An unnamed manufacturer downplayed the issue, saying that Snapdragon 821 is a strong chipset anyway.

Samsung and Qualcomm have a close relationship – the new Snapdragon 835 chips will be manufactured for Qualcomm by Samsung, which rakes in billions in profits making chips for other companies.

It looks like LG doesn’t really have a choice. The only way the South Korean giant would be able to use the Snapdragon 835 chipset in the G6 is if it would release it in the second half of April or possibly even May. Which obviously won’t happen. LG’s strategy in 2017 is to get its flagship device on the market as soon as possible.

The company has already sent out media invites to an event that is scheduled to take place on February 26 in Barcelona, a day before Mobile World Congress officially kicks off. Although LG hasn’t officially confirmed that it will take the wraps off the G6 during the event, we’re quite confident that the phablet will see the light of day in Spain.

Keep in mind that this is a rumor for now so it is still possible that the G6 will sport Qualcomm’s latest chipset. We’ll know more once the device is officially announced, which will happen in about a month.