Reports suggest that LG is considering creating a niche smartphone model dubbed LG G4 Pro, which will sport metal casing.

LG announced its flagship smartphone, the LG G4, for 2015 in April this year. The handset soon went to stores in Korea but started reaching U.S. shelves only in early June. The smartphone packs in impressive features that a smartphone lover wants in a top-end handset. However, LG is not done for this year with the LG G4.

Jun-ho Cho, CEO of LG's mobile business, previously revealed that the company is working on another top-end smartphone that it plans to launch in the second half of 2015. Rumors suggest that LG will launch the LG G4 Pro soon that will take on the likes of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 6s Plus, Nexus 5 (2015) and other big handsets.

Korean publication ETNews suggests that the LG G4 Pro will be a niche smartphone made of metal, which will differentiate the handset from the company's latest flagship LG G4.

"While it stressed analog feeling on G4 by applying leather cases, it now wants to stress digital and futuristic feelings on next models by applying metal cases," reports ETNews. "Many people in LG Electronics are taking stance that metal cases should be applied on niche models before flagship models."

LG will first need the know-how for building a metal cased smartphone on niche models such as the rumored LG G4 Pro. Rumors suggest that LG is actually focusing to understand and evaluate quality and pricing of a metal case.

Apple iPhones and several of Samsung's smartphones are made by press aluminum and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) method. LG does not have a big market share when compared to Samsung and Apple. The production of LG smartphones is expected to be less, which means that the press aluminum and CNC method may not be economically feasible for the company and the handset cost will increase.

However, if the metal casing in LG G4 Pro is made using press technology only then the company can utilize its existing supply chain management to ensure competitive price.

LG has not revealed any specs about the LG G4 Pro. However, LG will have to pull out something special out of the bag if it wants the handset to give competition to rival handsets such as the iPhone 6s Plus, Galaxy Note 5, Nexus 5 (2015) and more.

Photo: LG Electronics | Flickr