Samsung aims to up handset sales by 19 pct in 2010

(ATTN: RECASTS lead, headline; ADDS executive quotes)
By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-largest
mobile handset maker, said Thursday it aims to sell 270 million handset units
this year, up 19 percent from a year earlier and higher than the expected annual
growth for the industry.
"We plan to achieve a handset shipment growth that is more than double that of
the market average," Shin Jong-kyun, head of Samsung's mobile division, told a
press conference.
He added that researchers estimate the global handset market is expected to
expand six to seven percent in 2010 from last year.
Asia's largest handset maker sold more than 227 million units last year, claiming
over 20 percent of the global handset market.
Samsung said it also aims to triple sales of smartphones this year from 2009,
though without providing specific figures, to tap what could be the fastest
growing segment in the handset market.
Samsung will ramp up its smartphone line-up to meet that goal, launching models
with various operating systems -- Android, Windows Mobile, LiMo and Bada -- while
expanding its application store to over 50 countries.
Smartphones, which perform many of the same functions as personal computers,
require an operating system to run programs. Built-in functions can be expanded
by downloading programs called applications from app stores.
Samsung, which trails Finland's Nokia Corp., is estimated to have shipped 6
million smartphone units in 2009, according to Macquarie Research, a provider of
financial market data.
Samsung and its local rival LG Electronics Inc., the world's No. 3 handset maker,
failed to claim the top spots among global smartphone makers in 2009, which are
dominated by Apple Inc., maker of the iPhone, and Research In Motion Ltd., maker
of BlackBerry.
ylee@yna.co.kr
(END)

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