Pantech Group, the number two mobile phone company in South Korea, have revealed their plans to build market share and increase sales in France, one of Pantech's strategic handset markets in Europe, through aggressive brand development initiatives and supply partnerships.

At a press conference held in Paris - the company's first official engagement with the media in France - Pantech outlined its distribution and product launch strategies for the French market, along with details of its long term brand positioning plans. The company aims to become one of the top five most popular handset brands in France by the end of 2008.

Bells Kim, General Manager, Pantech France, said: "This is a critical market for Pantech, in terms of establishing our brand in Europe and creating increased customer awareness in key European countries. By supplying handsets through major operators, we can reinforce our market growth in France and support our brand development in other markets".

Pantech already supplies phones to shops of SFR, the second largest mobile operator in France, and has just diversified its distribution channel through a partnership with another leading mobile operator, Bouygues Telecom. Also, Pantech is in negotiations with other operators and open market distributors to increase its sales volume.

"The French have long been renowned for their sense of good taste across a vast range of areas, from clothing and apparel to cuisine and fine wines. We believe that our focus on advanced, stylish design and innovation means that we will be able to offer a genuinely "different" option for mobile users in France," said Mr. Kim.

Pantech plans to actively market its clamshell PG-3500 model in France. The slim, compact, attractively designed model, to be supplied to Bouygues Telecom, has a range of fun multimedia applications, including a 1.3 megapixel camera, MPEG4 camcorder, and MP3 player supported by an external memory card. The phone also features wireless Bluetooth technology/USB function and JAVA technology.

Pantech also plans to launch a marketing campaign to enhance its brand image in France, which will include the launch of an attention grabbing billboard campaign. The company plans to have a neon sign of its logo in the core location of Peripherique, in Paris, to be lit from June 1, 2006.

PG-3500 features include:

Size & weight: 92.7 x 45 x 16.8 mm, 75g
Display: Main: 1.9" 260K TFT (size: 176 x 220 pixels)
Sub: 1.2" 65K TFT (size: 96x128 pixels)
Color: Black and silver
Camera: 1.3 Mega pixel with a digital 4x zoom and a built-in flash
Memory: 512/128Mb (Micro SD card slot provided)
Video recording function
Music Player, 64 Polyphonic/MP3 ringtones
Bluetooth technology
SMS/MMS/E-mail