LG may be the first to announce a quad core smartphone with the LG Optimus 4X, but it will not be alone for very long. Several other manufacturers will make similar quad core announcements over the course of Mobile World Congress 2012.

LG was also first with dual-core smartphones, last year's Optimus 2x, but an early launch did not help LG with handset sales, as LG's shipment volumes dropped nearly 25 per cent in 2011. With several other quad-core smartphones launching, it will be difficult for LG to make its handsets stand out from the Android crowd. Like the LG Optimus 4X, many of these other handsets will also feature the latest version of Android, high end cameras, an HD screen, and even the same Nvidia Tegra3 chipset.

Quad-core processors offer much greater performance for graphics intensive activities such as high definition video playback and high-end gaming as well as enabling the phone to handle multitasking with less effect on the user experience. This will make the smartphone a more compelling consumer experience - in LG's words delivering 'PC-like performance' - and increase the disruption that high end smartphones cause to adjacent products such as handheld games consoles. Unlike Sony, Apple and Microsoft, LG lacks a strong games content portfolio that would help LG to differentiate its premium smartphones.

This chipset is broadly similar to the chipset in the PS Vita - both use a quad core ARM processor - and the screen is also of a similar size and in fact boasts a higher resolution. As such, content providers should expect LG's smartphone to deliver excellent visuals. However, such HD video or high-end gaming graphics performance is only realistically an option for downloaded content. Streaming HD video would require the mobile network to provide the content at a constant rate of greater 2Mbit/s which is very optimistic for most of today's 3G networks whereas 4G LTE would increase battery drain which already would be an issue with quad-core smartphones.

Revenues from Android smartphones games will rise by 218 per cent in 2012. This strong growth will be driven by the arrival of quad core smartphones, such as the Optimus 4X and the vast increase in the installed base of Android mobile handsets which will more than double.

The typical downside from very high performance hardware is the increased power consumption of such devices. LG has tackled this by including a very large 2150mAh battery as well as having a 'companion' fifth core to handle mundane task so the quad-core doesn't drain the battery unnecessarily.