LG to supply iPhone batteries next year

South Korea's LG Chem Ltd is slated to exclusively provide batteries for Apple's iPhone 9 which is likely to be launched next year, a Korean newspaper reported on Friday.

LG Chem has invested hundreds of billions of won in a dedicated line for the purpose and will produce "L-shaped" batteries for next year's iPhone, the Korea Economic Daily reported citing an unnamed chemical industry source.

A spokesman for LG Chem said it does not respond to inquiries about client companies. Apple could not be immediately reached for comment. LG Chem shares rose 3.7 per cent in morning trade to their highest level since April 2016. They later pared agains to be up 0.5 per cent.

Recently, LG also dropped a big hint as to what’s going to be company’s upcoming smartphone. The company has started sending out a "save the date" teaser that hints at a V30 launch in Berlin on August 31st, right before the start of the IFA technology trade show. However, the image doesn’t reveal much about the device, but there are a couple of clues that gives it away.

If the rumours and renders are to be believed, the V30 will be bigger and curvier form of G6 with a slightly different dual camera setup, meaning the smartphone will not retain the secondary display and the removable battery.

The flagship device will have a Snapdragon 835 SoC at its heart and will borrow the quality audio DACs and manual camera controls from its predecessor. It will be interesting to see how the final product will appear to be.