If you make a phone that talks to all of your five senses, you will have the same kind of success that Chocolate Phone has had all around the world, says Kim Jin, chief of LG Electronics’ mobile phone design lab.
Kim has masterminded the sensational success of the LG’s Black Label series, which is better known by its nickname _ the Chocolate Phone. The sleek, black slider phone has been a phenomenal success in South Korea, with more than 450,000 units sold over the past six months. Moreover, LG has shipped 550,000 units in only four weeks to countries such as Britain, China, Russia, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Turkey and Iran since its global launch last month.
"Mobile phone design is universal,’’ said Kim, who is also vice president of LG’s corporate design center, during an interview with The Korea Times last week. ``There may be a time difference between different regions, but the taste of consumers is the same. If Europeans like it, then Asians will like it, too. It’s not like household appliances such as washing machines, which have to meet local demands. For mobile phones, we have to watch the global trend.’’
While Korean phone makers Samsung and LG have seen sluggish sales figures this year, the Chocolate Phone has remained hot stuff in local and global markets. It was even picked as the company’s role model by CEO Kim Ssang-soo in his monthly speech to employees earlier this month.
Overall, the Chocolate Phone is a unique success in Korean industrial design history. It was the first product to sell a million units for its attractive design, not for any sophisticate high-tech features Korean firms are traditionally good at.
"We call the concept `tactile’ design. It originally means the feeling of touch, but we broadened the concept to all five senses _ touch, smell, the glowing lights, and all the emotional things,’’ she said.
She pointed out the Chocolate Phone was the first mobile handset with a touch-sensitive pad in the world. Also, the company added a lavender scent to the keypad of the White Chocolate Phone, which was sold as a limited edition around Valentine’s Day.
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