LG smartphone that rotates the screen, the ambitious departure of ‘Wing’ … ‘Only the power of the product’ wins

[서울=뉴스핌] Reporter Shim Ji-hye = LG Electronics is going to improve its smartphone business image with its ambitious ‘Wing’ work in the second half of the year. Wing is a product that embodies the ‘horizontal flair phone’ that flips the screen like a smartphone in the days of a feature phone.

The differentiated products featured above, such as modular and dual displays, have been unsuccessful, and the smartphone business has been losing money for 21 consecutive quarters.

[서울=뉴스핌] Reporter Lee Han-gyeol = LG Electronics has launched the ‘LG WING’ rotating phone that rotates the screen. 2020.10.06 [email protected]

◆ ‘Time ago’ … well received before launch

According to the electronics industry on the 6th, LG Electronics began selling Wings from this day without prior reservation process. In general, the industry makes advance reservations in order to increase the level of interest in products, and during this period special benefits are provided to those who buy.

However, LG Electronics decided to go beyond convention, as it was difficult to touch the actual product during the pre-booking period and it was difficult to adequately inform consumers about Wing, a variant of the product.

Wing is LG Electronics’ second dual-screen phone.

Through this, it is possible to use two tasks like video and text, game and phone without disturbing each other on each screen.

Additionally, a new ‘gimbal mode’ has been added to the camera to support less shake video recording. The gimbal is a device that enables stable and smooth video recording by making movements in the opposite direction to camera shake when recording video with a smartphone or camera.

LG Electronics conducted extensive preliminary checks to inform the characteristics of the wing and the result was successful. In the early days, questions about durability arose, but after the review, the reaction was mostly “It’s better than I thought.” As a new product, the screen rotation is stable and the gimbal mode allows you to take videos while minimizing shaking.

Foreign media also responded favorably. Phone Arena, a mobile-related outlet, said: “Hardware is a breakthrough with a novel idea,” and IT outlet The Verge commented that “a product that presents a new path towards dual-screen phones.”

◆ Just compete with product power … the key to sales volume

LG Electronics aims to improve the image of the smartphone business through this wing. The key is the actual consumer response.

While it got a favorable response with a new form factor that rotates the screen, there aren’t many apps that fit the wing, so a question mark is added to how useful it can be to use both screens.

The purpose of pursuing the V50 series of dual-screen phones with two screens side by side was similar to that of the wing. It had the advantage of being able to use different tasks without interruption, but it wasn’t satisfying enough to replace the existing smartphone.

The wing’s price tag is 10,989,900 won, which ranks between the mid-range phone and the flagship. It’s cheaper than Samsung Electronics’ flagship Galaxy Note 20 series recently launched (1,199,000-1353,000 won). It is approximately 100,000 won less than the previous V50 series dual-screen phone (1,199,000 won).

However, except for features like the ability to rotate the screen and gimbal mode, the general specifications are limited to the level of mid-priced smartphones. The application processor (AP) is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765G, which is the same as the Velvet predecessor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage space.

Among them, Samsung Electronics released the Galaxy S20 FE on the same day as the Wing. The Galaxy S20 FE is a product made with the Galaxy S20 premium phone in the first half of the year. The performance is similar, but the price drops to less than 1 million won, so it is evaluated as more competitive than the wing in terms of specifications only. The factory price for the Galaxy S20 FE is 89,800 won, which is the same as the velvet that LG Electronics released in the first half.

As a promotion, Samsung Electronics offers various gift items to customers who pre-order and activate the Galaxy S20 FE as a promotion, as well as a program that offsets up to twice the purchase price of existing used phones. Customers using existing Galaxy smartphones or iPhones can claim compensation before this month and return the used smartphone.

On the other hand, LG Electronics has no advance reservations, so customers who buy Wings until this month will receive only a 70% discount on the replacement cost if the screen is damaged within two years.

In terms of price and initial benefits, the Galaxy S20 FE has to compete head to head only with the product power of a dual screen that rotates the screen.

Kim Rok-ho, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment & Securities, said: “The wing is well received for its durability and finish.” It is important to increase it, ”he said.

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