The result of that yearlong collaboration is the Prada Phone, a slim, smooth and sleek device due out in Europe later this month for a whopping $780. Prada executives don’t want you to think for a minute that the Prada Phone is just another phone that looks good on the ear, like Samsung’s E500 Versus, a Versace-branded clamshell, or the Dolce & Gabbana numbered limited edition Gold Phone V3i, or any of many fashion-branded cell phones introduced in the past year. “This is the result of almost one year of collaboration between Prada and LG to present a touch-screen phone with a particularly large screen, in association with a style of advertising and packaging that represent something ’never seen before’ for the industry,” says Giacomo Ovidi, head of new business development at Prada Group.
As the global cell-phone market heats up, manufacturers have gotten more desperate than ever for the next big hit. They’re anxious to avoid the troubles of Motorola, whose financial fortunes soared after the success of its Razr phone and are now sagging as the company struggles to find a new winner. Apple’s iPhone–introduced in January but not available until June–is also creating a buzz of insecurity among established phone makers. The global top five–Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG–have kept their market shares steady in the past year, but analysts warn they could easily fall if the iPhone or some other challenger takes off. “The market has been so saturated that companies have to create new demands,” says Sam Hahn, a technology analyst at Samsung Securities in Seoul. “That is why design matters so much.”
To add to the uncertainty, marketers are targeting a new type of consumer in the mobile marketplace: teenagers and youths, who tend to care less about technology than holding the latest must-have phone. To address this market, handset makers need to “appeal more to the heart than to the head,” says Steve Walker, vice president of Sony Ericsson marketing. “You just want to have them, you want to own them, you fall in love with them, irrespective of what they can do, or even what the price is. You are confident from just the looks that you need to have that device.”
As advanced technologies like cameras, memory and e-mail and other features have become so commonplace that cell-phone makers are turning to boosting the aesthetic appeal of their phones. “Advanced features of cell phones are now taken for granted,” says Hahn. “Like automobiles, cell phones are a status symbol carried by four out of 10 human beings on earth. As Toyota started Lexus, cell-phone makers add luxury lines.”
The strategy is risky. In the past, designer-branded cell phones have tended to fall flat. In 2004, Motorola offered a phone designed by Pininfarina, the same folks who design Ferrari and Maserati cars. The phone even had the same wood-grain panel as a Ferrari car’s interior, and opened up much like a Ferrari hood. But sales were sluggish and the overall consensus was that it looked and felt a lot like a child’s toy. After its success with the Razr, last year Motorola also teamed up with Dolce & Gabbana, but sales have been disappointing because the phones don’t offer much in the way of technology. Nokia, too, tried a gaudy gold-leaf motif phone by Versace two years ago, with proceeds going to AIDS research, but even for a good cause, Nokia couldn’t sell many. Nokia tried again with its luxury brand Virtu and its Fashion collection for the 7200-series handsets created by designer Zac Posen. Samsung, meanwhile, invited designers Bill Keith, Orson Liyu, Khoon Hooi and Jonathan Chang in 2005 to design a clothing line inspired by the SGH-E800C. Last year, Samsung joined hands with Bang & Olufsen of Denmark to make cell phones with a round keypad, among other design features.
The contrarian seems to be Sony Ericsson, which is working with its in-house designers to carve out a new cell-phone look that builds on traditional Sony products, like the Walkman. Its W880i, announced last week and expected to be available in March, is branded as a Walkman phone in a slim package with metal finish and camera. “We’re keeping with striking, bold designs, bright color ranges, so that from the physical design the consumer immediately knows what the device is capable of,” says Sony Ericsson’s Walker. “It’s the BMW approach–you love what the car can do, you love the looks, and you love actually owning the car as well.”
The Prada Phone follows on LG Electronics’ success with the Chocolate Phone, a stylish black device with a partial touch screen that sold 8 million units worldwide during the past eight months. If the success of that device is any guide, the sleek aesthetic of the iPhone, the Prada Phone and other touch-screen phones may change the look of mobiles for good.
