South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. will launch its latest premium smartphone, the V20, the successor to its large-sized smartphone, the V10, in San Francisco on September 6 and in Seoul on September 7. It will be the first smartphone equipped with Google’s latest Android 7.0 Nougat operating system.

On Thursday, the company sent out invitations for a press event titled ‘Save the date,’ saying that it will unveil its premium smartphone V20 in September.

The V10 released in October 2015 was a big hit in North America, drawing sales of 10,000 units per day. It has unique features such as a second screen right above the main display, two front cameras and steel frame.

The highlight of the LG V10 smartphone is its Second Screen located as an inset display just above the main display and the frame of the smartphone made of stainless steel, greatly appealing to North American consumers who have a high appetite for entertainment and multimedia features. The follow-up V20 model is also expected to underscore multimedia features with a large screen and an enhanced sound system.

The invitation letter featured a pop-up book that has a ‘Play More’ on it, which could be associated with the V20’s strengthened multimedia capabilities. The letter for Koreans includes images of Seoul’s attractions such as Namsan/Seoul N Tower and the statue of Admiral Yi Soon-shin while the international letter silhouettes San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and trams.

Driven by the huge popularity of the V10, LG Electronics reached a record high market share of 16.6 percent in the first quarter of this year in North America.

Competition will be heated up in the big screen smartphone market in the second half. Samsung Electronics has recently released its new Galaxy Note 7 and China’s Huawei also launched the Honor Note 8 with a 6.6-inch screen. Apple is about to unveil its large-sized iPhone 7 Plus early next month.

By Lee Seung-hoon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]