LG Wing Planners: "Wing Started by 'Rejecting' Conventional Smartphones"

Project started since May last year... Took time to persuade internally
"Convinced by seeing people frustrated multitasking on the subway"
Considering form factor while looking at feature phones... "Productization depends on execution"

Hong Shintae and Ji Hoonjun, managers of product planning at LG Electronics MC Division, are posing for a commemorative photo holding the LG Wing.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] "The LG Wing project started by rejecting existing smartphones and breaking the mold."

Starting from 'rejecting' the rectangular shape that dominates smartphones, the screen-rotating smartphone 'LG Wing' was born after a year and a half. It was LG Electronics' attempt to show that there is not just one correct answer for smartphones.

Jihun Jun and Hong Shintae, product planners of LG Wing from LG Electronics MC Business Division, explained in an interview with Asia Economy on the 5th, "Existing smartphones had similar designs and specs, leading to stagnation, but consumers thought that was the 'correct answer.' Like consumer reactions, it took quite some time internally to persuade why we rotate the screen at first, but now public opinion also sympathizes with it."

Gaining 'Conviction' Watching People Rotate Smartphones on the Subway

The LG Wing is a smartphone with a 6.8-inch main screen that rotates horizontally to reveal a 3.9-inch second screen underneath, enabling multitasking. Hong said he gained conviction that 'Wing' was a necessary product while riding the subway. He said, "I saw a college student grumbling as he rotated his smartphone vertically to reply to messages from friends while playing two games on the subway, then switching the phone back to horizontal to play the game. That gave me a hint that if KakaoTalk and text messages appeared on the second screen, complaints could be reduced."

After the LG Wing was unveiled, sharp reactions like "LG has gone crazy" poured in. Regarding this, Hong said, "Consumer surveys showed polarized likes and dislikes, but rather than vague positive responses, when many people criticize it, I had a hunch that it would succeed."

The product planners also took out old feature phones during the early development stage of LG Wing. Hong said, "After smartphones became mainstream, form factors couldn't be changed because they were made to fit operating systems (OS), but there were actually more interesting products in the past." Jihun added, "Even if an idea seems likely to come out once, whether it becomes a product ultimately depends on whether it is executed."

'Wing' Targeting Generation Z Who Communicate Through 'Videos'

The LG Wing connected the rotating form factor with videos. It was made optimized for watching, shooting, and sharing. This is also why it includes a 'gimbal' function that minimizes shaking.

Jihun said, "A keyword describing today's young generation is 'attention seekers,' and they communicate through videos and perform various tasks simultaneously while watching videos." Hong explained, "We took advantage of the form factor that allows communication while watching videos on a horizontally laid screen and makes it easy to hold and shoot at the same time. We considered functions that produce effects like a gimbal and ended up including them all."

Making it more useful and lighter than dual-screen phones was also an important point. Jihun emphasized, "There was no product for which we made as many design prototypes as the Wing. The prototype weighed over 300g, but we really cut down a lot."

Jihun explained, "To provide immersion without punch holes or notches, we installed the front camera in a pop-up form, but thickness was critical. We thought hard about how to fit the camera well while maintaining a thickness of 10.9mm."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.