[THE INVESTOR] After less than an hour’s ride from Yeouido, a group of journalists hustled out of their bus, touching down in front of the LG Digital Park in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, which houses the assembly lines of LG Electronics’ high-end smartphone V20 in Pyeongtaek.

The trip was made prior to the launch of the high-end mobile device in the US on Oct. 21, one of the global markets where the Korean tech firm still maintains quite high popularity and market share -- the firm’s market share, at around 16 percent, is the third largest after Samsung and Apple in the US. 

The LG Digital Park rolls out a range of products, including TVs, laptops, as well as its mobile devices at four separate buildings. 
 
Each floor of the G2 – the building dedicated to mobile devices -- has its own functionality. For example, assembly tools put electronic parts together on smartphone circuit boards on the first floor, tests of embedded software and customization works for different mobile carriers take place on the third, and packaging of the final goods are done on the fourth floor. 

Sporting killer features, such as the jaw-dropping high-resolution audio tech, called the Hi-Fi DAC, and the “Expert,” camera mode, which enables users to manually adjust camera settings, the V20 has been garnering positive reviews from consumers. 

LG, which has not had a blockbuster smartphone model since its G3 in 2014, is hoping the V20 will turn its mobile fortunes around.

With no particular handset enjoying the upper hand in the premium smartphone sector at the moment, the timing could not be better for LG to increase its presence with the V20, rivaling Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus, scheduled to hit the Korean market Friday.

“The assembly lines for the V20 are in full swing from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.” said Kim Seung-ryeol, an official from LG’s handset assembly team who guided reporters along the assembly lines.

“Around six to seven assembly lines are currently being operated for the V20 while around five or six assembly lines are being used for the G5,” the LG official said.

Depending on demand for each flagship handset, assembly lines roll out the V20 and the G5 on an alternate basis, but the volume for the V20 has largely increased in recent weeks, according to the LG official.

At each assembly line, around 4,000 smartphone units can be produced per day with its maximum production capacity reaching 5,000.

Based on a quick calculation, the smartphone-maker is currently churning out around 24,000 V20 units a day, or 720,000 a month.

Among many processes, the company is especially putting weight on a series of rigorous quality, durability, and safety tests.

Twisting the handset’s frame, tapping every corner of the touch display with a robotic finger, and pressing the buttons of the gadget million times are some of the rather severe tests that the V20 has to undergo to meet both the domestic and international standards.

 

In a demonstration, a staffer at a durability test lab put the V20 in a transparent rectangular box, measured one meter in height with both the top and bottom made of steel, and used a machine to spin the box.

In a real drop test, staffers check if the device still works in a proper manner after numerous tough drops and tumbles.

“Scratches on the surface of the phone are not a big problem as long as the device works properly,” he said.

In another test room, a number of different LG smartphone models -- some of their screens are blinking and others are running apps or playing some videos – were being tested.

The test, aimed at measuring the lifespan of the mobile devices, continue around the clock for around six months before they hit the market.

“LG puts priority on product quality across all the processes from design to production,” said Lee Byeong-ju, a senior vice president of LG’s global operations unit.

Around 4,000 units of the V20 were sold per day from Sept. 29 to Oct. 10 according to industry data, but the figure increased to 7,000 in recent days—slightly lower than the conventional standard of 10,000 units for a mega-hit smartphone in the Korean market. 

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com">wone0102@heraldcorp.com)