[THE INVESTOR]  LG Electronics' clout in the global smartphone market is steadily declining on the back of cut-throat competition in the sector.

And the Korean firm’s bet on its next high-end smartphone, the V20, which succeeds the V10, is not expected to bring about a dramatic turnaround, according to industry watchers. 

"LG’s upcoming new high-end smartphone will not be able to offset the sluggish sales of the G5 handsets," said Park Kang-ho, an analyst from Daishin Securities.

The South Korean tech firm’s smartphone sales in the April-June period fell 1 percent on-year to 13.9 million units, comparing with the 77.6 million shipments of Samsung Electronics.

On the global front, Chinese smartphone-makers are fast on LG’s heels, and they have long pushed the firm out from the list of the world’s top five smartphone-makers.

Samsung and Apple maintained the top two slots, respectively, in terms of shipment in the second quarter, followed by Huawei, which shipped 320 million units. Oppo and Xiaomi switched places, with the former up at fourth place, while the latter slid to fifth.

Amid the reshuffling, LG Electronics’ mobile business has been in the red for the fourth consecutive quarter when it logged 153.5 billion won of operating loss in the April-June period. In sharp comparison, Samsung raked in 4.3 trillion won of operating profit.

LG has so far conceded the failure of its latest flagship G5 smartphone, and vowed to make "utmost efforts to make its mobile business return to the black."

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)