LG hopes to win European GSM market with "chocolate" phone

Reuters.com reports that LG Electronics "will start shipping its "Chocolate" mobile phone in Europe by early May, in an attempt to break through in the GSM markets where it lags far behind its direct rivals."

According to the article, "LG has already sold 300,000 of the chocolate-coloured slider models with touch-sensitive keypad controls in its South Korean home market since the launch in November."

LG is the number 4 handset manufacturer worldwide, "mainly as a result of its strong position in CDMA phones popular in the Americas." However, in the larger GSM handset market, "LG is only half the size of global No. 5 Sony Ericsson."

Ben Wood at Gartner said, "The model caters to the replacement market where fashion is as much a factor in purchasing decision as function, but it remains to be seen whether European users will adopt it with the vigor that Korean consumers have embraced it."

Photo via MobileKorea.tv