BASKING RIDGE, N.J.—Verizon Wireless hopes that, as it claims, “everybody loves chocolate,” especially the $150 variety from LG Electronics Co. Ltd. that provides multimedia functions. Verizon Wireless launched the Chocolate today, hyping it as “part MP3 player, part phone, totally sweet.”
The Chocolate phone, or the VX8500, is a CDMA slider phone in black with external music player controls that handles MP3 and WMA music files and streaming video via Verizon Wireless’ Vcast service, provides directions via the carrier’s VZ Navigator service and offers stereo Bluetooth headphones and an optional 2-gigabyte microSD card that can carry 1,000 songs. The phone is less than four inches long when closed, and less than two inches wide. Verizon is selling the phone for $150 with a two-year service contract.
For LG, the co-branded Chocolate is part of an ongoing effort to establish global brand awareness; prior to its U.S. launch, it had been available in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Korea, where according to BusinessWeek Online, the phone has sold 1.9 million units since its May launch. The handset vendor has posted two quarterly operating losses in a row this year totaling about $35 million, which LG attributes to its marketing and branding efforts. The vendor is banking on a turnaround in its business fortunes in the second half of this year and the Chocolate’s launch in the United States is an integral part of that effort.
The name is an effort at pure marketing appeal, as there is no discernible connection between the phone and the near-universally appealing snack food. For Verizon Wireless, it is yet another, exclusive handset launch that attracts attention to its network offerings.
LG representatives said last week that they hoped to exploit a window of opportunity in the United States this summer and fall to attract consumer interest during a lull in handset launches by its larger competitors.
Verizon Wireless is also using the Chocolate launch to tout upgrades to its Vcast Music service. The carrier eliminated the $15 monthly “Vpak” charge to access the music service, allowing users to buy tunes a la carte without the additional subscription. The carrier also added the ability to listen to songs in MP3 format on the Chocolate in addition to Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Media format, which remains the standard for other Verizon Wireless Vcast Music-enabled phones. The carrier originally was criticized for requiring users to convert MP3 files into the Windows Media format.
In unrelated news, Alltel Corp. launched the LG AX490 phone, which features a “Fastap” keypad created by Digit Wireless. The keypad offers raised buttons for each letter of the alphabet, presumably making it easier to type SMS messages without a QWERTY keyboard. The phone, which sells for $60 (after a mail-in rebate) with a two-year contract, is styled after a NASCAR racing car and sports features that tout driver Ryan Newman and his Alltel No. 12 Dodge.
