Brands latch on to other brands in order to expand their target audience, and to reap the benefits of each brand’s unique properties. The companies that do this sort of propaganda remixing typically don’t have brands that are powerful enough to stand alone. Case in point, LG and Prada have just announced that they’re going to work together again to release a smartphone in early 2012. It’s going to be their third device that the pair has collaborated on. The first two being the LG Prada (KE850), a feature phone that took 18 months just to push 1 million units, and the LG Prada II (KF900), yet another feature phone, this time with a QWERTY keyboard. We’re confident in saying that the third Prada will be a smartphone since it’s already been leaked. Unless they decide to change the name, we think it’s going to be called the LG Prada K2 (P940). It’s set to run Android Gingerbread, have a dual core processor, 4.3 inch screen, 8 megeapixel camera, 21 Mbps HSPA+, and even near field communications (NFC) support.
Looking at the design, we can’t help but think that LG received quite a bit of inspiration from Nokia’s N9 and Lumia 800. It’s an all black brick with rounded corners, and the top and bottom of the device are straight cut. This obvious lack of any attempt to push the envelope explains their Q3 2011 financial results quite well. The company lost nearly $130 million, and sales were down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Not all is bad though, LG’s components division recently started shipping 4.5 inch 720p panels that will surely make their way into a plethora of 2012 smartphones.
Will people pick up the Prada because it simply says Prada? Sadly, yes. We all know there are people out there who buy certain things just to project their status. As long as they exist, devices like the LG Prada will keep on coming out.