(SINGAPORE) Chocolate is selling like hotcakes, says electronics giant LG.

The stylish handphone, launched in May last year and a huge seller worldwide, will soon rack up its 10 millionth sale - in an industry where 5,000 sales a month is considered a 'hit'.

'The key factors of Chocolate Phone's success are the naming and the design,' Howard Lee, managing director of LG Electronics Singapore, told BT recently.

'Both sugar and chocolates are sweet, but they taste quite different,' Mr Lee said.

'We wanted the richness and luxuriance of chocolate. But in early stages, many people in the company did not agree to name the phone Chocolate because it did not look like chocolate. Ironically, customers just accepted the name - they thought it cool,' he added.

So why has Chocolate hit such a sweet spot?

Dark good looks complemented by glowing red buttons, it would seem. But, of course, Chocolate does not only come in shades of brown. The pink and wine varieties are particularly popular in Singapore.

Will Chocolate turn stale?

At the end of April, LG launches two new phones - Shine and Prada.

Shine - a full metal jacket slider - is already available in Korea and Europe. When closed, it is as reflective as a mirror. And when open, its full-colour screen comes to life.

Shine has a scroll key you can use easily to access the menu. And it has a high-spec auto-focus camera by German lens company Schneider Kreuznach.

The Prada phone, co-designed by LG and the fashion house of the same name, is aimed at women with a hankering for luxury goods.

And it will carry what some will think is a luxury price tag - slightly over $1,200.

But Mr Lee is confident the phone will turn people on. 'LG's design-oriented technology appealed to Prada, and I also think it will appeal to consumers,' he said.

'Chocolate phones undoubtedly established LG as a force in the design-led mobile sector. Shine and Prada will offer complete appeal to a wider audience with their technological and design attractions,' Mr Lee said.

He reckons Shine could eat up Chocolate's record of 10 million sales - and in a shorter time frame. But only time will tell which the public thinks is the most tasteful.