LG turns on the style with first Black Label phone

Dubbed 'LG Chocolate', the KG800 is the first model to go on sale in the region from LG's exclusive Black Label series - and it is the world's first mobile with a touch-sensitive screen.

Addressing a VIP unveiling of the new phone in Dubai, Mr. C.H Lee, President of LG Gulf, said: "Modern buying trends are governed as much by emotion as by product specification, and LG Chocolate connects on both levels. It is unique, desirable and affordable."

Citing memorable design success stories elsewhere in the business world, Mr. Lee said:

"Good design is good business. The Black Label series brings something totally new to the mobile market. Other manufacturers have launched models that have design as a key attribute, but with LG Chocolate, we have become the first manufacturer to proactively design and market a handset based on its visual and emotional appeal."

Measuring just 15mm thick, the KG800 uses a hidden LCD screen to appear as a solid, black block when not in use. There are no exposed buttons, and the keypad glows red when activated by the lightest touch.

Around 150 distributors, business partners and media guests received a special preview tonight of LG Chocolate at Dubai's Hyatt Regency Hotel, with dance shows and an illusionist performance.

On sale in the region from June 1, LG Chocolate has won two European design awards, the iF Design and Red dot Design awards, but also achieves a number of key engineering breakthroughs.

The handset meets new European Union legislation on environmental performance, which will come into effect this July. The sleek handset uses non-toxic materials, and lead-free solder to secure parts on its Printed Wired Board (PWB).

According to Mr. Cha Kang Hee, Chief Research Engineer at LG's Design Research Lab in Korea, the creative concept of the new mobile is 90 per cent intuition. "Developing a product requires research, but designers think that inspiration is just as important as scientific data. It took about two and a half months to complete the design, but the idea was the result of several nights' work."

Features include a class-leading MP3/AAC music player, 128MB built-in memory (enough to record up to 40 songs), 1.3 mega-pixel camera with video, and 800mAh battery with 200 hours of standby time and three hours 20 minutes of talk time.

LG Gulf's Mr. C.H Lee said: "LG Chocolate has sold 400,000 units in Korea since its launch in November 2005, helping LG secure a 7 per cent share of the domestic handset market. Regional GSM handset sales were US$185 million in 2005, a year-on-year increase of 15.6 per cent, and LG's presence will expand further as more premium mobile products come on-stream. LG Chocolate and the Black Label series are LG's Blue Ocean operational strategy in action."

LG has set its sights on total regional consumer electronics sales of US$2.7 billion in 2006, 20 per cent growth compared to 2005, and the company plans to double global sales volumes and profit and shareholder benefits by 2010.

The recently announced Blue Ocean strategy shifts the focus from volume to value through high-end product innovation. Blue Ocean products, like LG Chocolate, are expected to generate around 30 per cent of sales and 50 per cent of profits by 2010.

Since LG Electronics opened its CDMA handset operations in 1996, it has experienced phenomenal year-on-year growth. In 2005, the company achieved total sales of 55 million units worldwide.

Global GSM (including UMTS) sales increased by nearly 40 per cent over the previous year to 25 million units, and CDMA sales increased to 30 million units, securing LG's position as the world's top CDMA vendor.

The company ranked fourth in global mobile handset sales in 2005, according to the global market research agency, Strategy Analytics. By reinforcing its global leadership in the 3G market, LG Electronics expects to increase overall handset sales by 27 per cent to 70 million units in 2006.

LG Chocolate is a product of LG's dedicated Design Management Centres, which employ around 300 specialists in Korea, USA, Japan, China, and India. Teams work with 120 design firms around the world. LG invested more than US$73 million into its design operations in 2005 and has won 41 world design awards so far this year.