14 DAY TRIAL // According to the latest news around the Internet, LG Electronics is expected to soon leave behind rival Samsung when it comes to the manufacturing of 3G mobile phones. It seems that the handset manufacturer might be able to outpace its co-national rival company courtesy of the high demand the technology is expected to see in China. LG was selected earlier this year as the only multinational handset maker to provide 3G-enabled mobile phones to all three 3G operators in China: China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom.
The company already managed to increase its handset shipments from 11.5 percent market share in 2007 to 18.4 percent of the market last year. According to Worri Investment & Securities, LG is expected to ship 120 million units this year, which represents 25.2 percent of total production. In comparison, Samsung's 3G phones accounted for 18.4 percent of the market in 2007 and 22.9 percent last year. According to the reports, Samsung should account for 25.1 percent of the market this year, with 227 million units shipped.
The fact that LG already enhanced its production should also help it increase its market share in China. The company accounted for only 3.8 percent of the mobile phone market in China during the first quarter of the ongoing year, says Gartner.
At the same time, Nokia has 32 percent of the market, while Samsung was placed second with 18 percent and Motorola third with 9 percent. LG intends to introduce a wide range of high-end devices on the Chinese market, including smartphones.
The company's first TD-SCDMA-supported smartphone is the LG-KT878, which is aimed at China Mobile's customers. LG is also expected to release three or four other TD-SCDMA handsets this year, with ten more to follow the next. In addition, the Chinese version of Voyager has already been launched with China Telecom. According to the news, one third of the 3G phone production from LG should go to China Telecom.