LG confirms upcoming ‘LG Class’ smartphone will be Korea-only, due September 21

LG teased an upcoming smartphone on its Korean-language Facebook page Wednesday — but unlike other posts on that page, the teaser includes the English words “Something New” and the date September 21.

It’s fair to say that the teased image has attracted some attention, with serial leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer jumping on it the same day and predicting a metal-housed, mid-range 5.7-inch phablet.

Hemmerstoffer also expects the following specs for the device: 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon S615 processor with eight cores (1.5Ghz), 2GB of RAM, a 12MP rear-facing camera with a 5MP front camera, 8GB of internal storage, all running on LG’s skinned version of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

But the company confirmed to VentureBeat Thursday that the teased device is “definitely a Korea-only phone.” Most reports expected as much, but some had said they wouldn’t rule out its chances of coming to Western markets (like the U.S. and Europe) until LG’s official announcement.

Now, though, it seems that we can be sure this will be a domestic market device for LG. The spokesperson did not confirm whether there will be a big-bang event for the announcement, or just a smaller press conference.

LG sent out media invites Monday for an October 1 event in New York, where some new hardware is expected to be unveiled. The event will be sandwiched between an earlier Nexus-related event by Google in San Francisco (September 29) and a Windows 10/Surface event by Microsoft (October 6), also in New York.

Meanwhile, The Korea Herald reported Thursday that the company — currently South Korea’s no. 2 smartphone maker behind Samsung — is “suffering a prolonged slump in its smartphone business in the face of increased competition, which is forcing it to sharply cut the prices of its high-end smartphones.”

On Monday, reports surfaced that LG could be preparing to unveil a futuristic 55-inch “rollable TV” prototype next year.

Here’s hoping that there are better times ahead for the company.