LG had an extremely successful 2006, with its technologically impressive LG KG920 camera phone being the first to be released outside of Asia with 5 megapixels (though its picture quality wasn’t great).
LG found real success in 2006 with its designer phones, with its LG Chocolate range becoming its best-selling phone by miles, selling 6 million phones in 2006, and expecting it to sell another 4 million by the first half of 2007. Unlike Motorola, though, who rested on their laurels with their designer phone, the RAZR, LG aim to repeat their success with a new line of designer phones called the LG Shine. Featuring a mirrored LCD display, the new LG Shine series looks gorgeous. Although the first phones went on sale in late 2006, expect more Shine phones to emerge throughout 2007.
Keen to capitalise on its Designer theme, LG have teamed up with Prada, and will be releasing an LG Prada phone (left). The phone has no buttons on its surface, but instead comes with a touch screen.
LG has some serious technological muscle on its side, being able to match Samsung and Sony for the breadth of its electronic products. However, whereas Samsung focuses on on technology and slimness for its phones, LG has seen the benefits of good design, and is set to continue this trend. LG phones in 2007 will still be serious technological competitors, but it’ll leave the “Wow phones” to Samsung.
Like an endless production of Rocky sequels, Motorola will continue to release more RAZRs, possibly with different textures (having run out of different colours). The company are committed to selling up to half a billion RAZRs of one form or another, so it’s not going away any time soon (and with those sort of figures, why should it?!)
They’ve also announced the Motorola SCPL, a new line of mobile phones that’s intended to replace the ageing RAZR line (one day!). The SCPL is a mobile phone platform, with different devices sporting different features all based on it. The first phone to be based on the SCPL platform was the Motorola MOTOFONE, which is a boring, if competent low-end device. No news yet on what the other SCPL-based phones will be like. However, if the Motorola KRZR (left) and RIZR are anything to go by, I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for any excitement!
More of the same, unfortunately, with little new, and low-end phones aimed at pushing into the ermeging Chinese and Indian markets. Zzzzzzzz!