Chocolate Gets Even Sweeter The Second Time Around, Exclusively At Verizon Wireless
Slimmer and Lighter Than Ever, the Mouth-Watering Chocolate by LG Comes with New Features and Hot New Colors — BASKING RIDGE, NJ, and SAN DIEGO — The Chocolate by LG is back and sweeter than ever.
Context & Ripple Effects
The original Chocolate was LG's fashion-forward music phone, and this second-generation refresh keeps the playbook intact: slimmer hardware, new colors, and a confirmed exclusive at Verizon Wireless. The timing matters — days earlier, on June 29, Verizon had pushed an 18-device multimedia lineup into stores, making the Chocolate sequel the style anchor of that music push.
The more interesting backdrop is LG's own split strategy, confirmed on July 3: an agreement with Google for a YouTube-focused phone slated to launch first in Europe in the second half of 2007, enabling video upload and sharing without a computer. In the same week, then, LG is selling a closed, carrier-exclusive feature phone in the US while preparing an open, internet-centric device abroad.
First-order effects
- Verizon gains a fresh exclusive for its holiday-half music lineup, using the slimmer Chocolate to keep its feature-phone shelf distinctive against rival carriers' devices.
- LG extends the life of a proven franchise with a low-risk cosmetic-and-features update rather than a platform change, banking on brand recognition from the first Chocolate.
Second-order effects
- Competing carriers face pressure to lock up their own exclusive fashion-music phones, since exclusivity is now demonstrably how Verizon differentiates a crowded multimedia catalog.
- LG's two-track approach — carrier-gated handsets in the US versus the Google-partnered YouTube phone in Europe — sets up an internal test of whether carrier distribution and open-internet devices can coexist in one vendor's portfolio.
Third-order effects
- If exclusive carrier sequels keep outselling open devices stateside, the US handset market stays gated by carrier deals even as Europe shifts toward internet-first phones — a divergence LG itself is straddling, and one that puts vendors' allegiances under strain as players like Google push against carrier control of distribution.
The trend: Handset makers are running parallel strategies — carrier-exclusive feature phones in the US, open internet-centric devices in Europe — and the competition between those two models is starting inside individual vendors.