LG Electronics targets 20 pct rise in handset sales in 2010

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- LG Electronics Inc., the world's third-largest mobile
handset maker, aims for 20 percent on-year growth in handset sales this year in a
bid to increase its global market share to 13 percent, its handset business head
said Wednesday.
LG plans to sell 140 million handsets in global markets this year, compared with
117 million units a year ago, said Skott Ahn, president of LG's mobile business,
in a meeting with reporters.
The company will also release 20 new smartphone models this year and is targeting
a double-digit market share in the smartphone sector in 2012, he added.
"We will prepare a full lineup of portfolio targeting smartphone markets," Ahn
said. "But we will also seek growth in feature phone areas, which account for 80
percent of the global handset market."
Feature phones, referring to traditional mobile devices without free access to
wireless Internet, unlike smartphones, still represent a crucial business area
for LG as it aims to take the second spot in the global handset market in 2012.
LG nudged out Motorola Inc. and Sony Ericsson last year, trailing only behind
Finland's Nokia Corp. and domestic rival Samsung Electronics Co.
Though it is one of the top three players in global mobile market, LG did not
make into the list of top smartphone vendors in 2009, a highly-profitable and
fast-growing segment dominated by Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd., maker
of Blackberry.
To sharpen its competitive edge beyond feature phone models, LG plans more than
10 new smartphone models based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system, with
the remainder running on Windows Mobile by Microsoft Corp, Ahn said.
A new smartphone model based on Windows Mobile 6.5 will be launched as early as
the end of January in South Korea, according to the president.
"It is true that we plan to release more Android-based models this year, but it
does not mean our strategic relationship with Microsoft has weakened," Ahn said.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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