might ditch its Friends for G6 launch

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Published 5 Jan 2017

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Back when launched its G5 phone at last year’s Mobile rld Congress, its revolutionary modular system was met with a fair amount of acclaim. But a clunky execution a lack of third-party support doomed the hset before it could get off the ground, the Moto Z’s more elegant magnetic solution all but put a nail in the G5’s coffin.

So it should come as no surprise that is backing away from the modular concept. According to The ll Street urnal, the phone maker is planning to release its G6 hset “in the very near future,” but its Friends might not be coming along. told the paper that it would be “scaling back the modularity of the G6, compared with the G5, is instead focusing on the phone’s aesthetics usability.”

has struggled to make much noise in the smartphone world despite releasing two flagships in 2016, the G5 V20. ile it ranks third in the U.S. behind Apple Samsung with roughly 10 percent market share, it trails Huawei, Oppo, others on the global stage.

Back in ne, the company shook up its mobile division in response to poor sales of the G5, it most recently reported a 23 percent drop in its third-quarter sales on a quarterly operating loss of nearly $400 million. However, Technologist Skott Ahn insists remains committed to making hsets, saying that “spinning off the smartphone division is not something we would consider.”

The company is reportedly eyeing a release of the G6 at M in February, though several other dates are bring considered. A spokesperson for told the urnal that the phone will likely be priced in the same $500-$600 range as the G5.

y this matters: Smartphones are very quickly approaching an innovation wall, as manufacturers look to find the next direction. ’s approach, while admirable, didn’t pan out for the company, but the modular phone concept is far from dead. In fact, Moto plans to release a dozen new Mods for its Z hset this year, including one that brings support for ’s Tango AR OS.