LG banking heavily on its G3 launch in China

China is becoming a tougher and tougher market to crack for foreign handset manufacturers that aren’t named Apple. But LG is looking to change that.

The G3 will go on sale for $650 (3,999 yuan) in China, which is significantly cheaper than the device’s Korean launch of $869. Still, many domestic players, like Xiaomi, offer feature rich smartphones that are much cheaper than the G3’s current asking price.

So why does LG want to make a splash in China? Well, the region is the world’s top smartphone market, and the Korean manufacturer doesn’t even make it into the top 10 list of phone sales in China, despite being ranked 5th globally.

The G3 will be offered exclusively through JD.com initially, as a means of LG saving money on distribution costs. LG hopes that the premium screen and top-of-the-line specs will help to push the G3 over its competitors in China, LG even admits that the device has performed better than the company had originally thought, and they're hoping that the love the handset has been receiving will carry over to Chinese consumers.

LG has been seeing better days in its mobile division recently, as the company was able to make a profit in Q2 2014, after a year of losses. The Korean manufacturer hopes to continue this positive trend with the G3 and if they can attain success in the region, they will certainly be on the right track.