Just wanted to bump this thread back out there.

The Vu and Eternity are huge sellers at my store, constantly out of stock.

The Vu is touchscreen and cheap, that's why it sells.  It runs LG's dumbphone OS, and has a mechanical touchscreen, similar to most WM devices (which means you can use a stylus).  I'm not a huge fan of LG's standard OS myself, but selling it is not a problem.

The Samsung Eternity is essentially a Samsung Instinct except it runs Samsung's standard OS.  Same interface, and usage very similar to the iPhone.

Both phones support MediaFLO TV, and they Samsung looks better, but the LG has better A2DP quality.

I would carry the Eternity if I had to use a featurephone. The Vu is too clunky compared to any of the smartphones I use.

Great info, Kris - thanks for this. I think cheap certainly sells, and maybe the Vu has enough features to keep many of its buyers happy?

And here's an interesting story from Mobileburn explaining that LG has an increase in sales but a weak profit margin.

Today in Seoul, LG Electronics reported the Q4 2008 performance figures for its mobile phone business, LG Mobile Communication Company. LG reported a total of 4.49 trillion KRW ($3.3 billion) in total sales, which is up 34.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. Cell phones accounted for 4.09 trillion KRW ($3.0 billion) of that total, which is up 40.3 percent from this time last year, and up 16.5 percent from Q3.

LG reports that it shipped 25.7 million cell phones in Q4, which is an increase of 8% from Q4 of 2007. LG has calculates that it has sold 100.7 million cell phones in 2008, which compares quite favorably to the 80.5 million units shipped in 2007, and should be enough to propel it firmly into the number 3 position past Motorola. Motorola has yet to report its quarterly earnings.

LG says that it's mobile division's profit margins dropped to 5.2 percent for the quarter due to an increase in marketing expenses intended to help it move existing inventory.

In spite of the poor global economic outlook for 2009, which Nokia expects to cause a 10% reduction in global phone sales, LG remains bullish on its own future, predicting both an increase in the number of units it ships and market share for 2009.