Korean mobile manufacturer LG has confirmed ambitious plans to climb to the peak of the mobile handset market, with a target of becoming one of the top two manufacturers in the world by the year 2012. Having already projected a heavily increased sales volume for 2010 – an estimated 140 million handsets worldwide – the company has explained that it’s betting on its large volume of new smart phones, all to be released over the coming year. Estimated sales for 2009 were around the 117 million mark, so figures of 140 million would represent an increase of around 20%.
The increase anticipated is all the more surprising given the growth LG already registered for the previous year, which saw the Seoul-based firm enter double figures in terms of worldwide market share for the first time in its history, despite an overall contraction of the cell phone market in 2009, something it might struggle to repeat. The company currently sits behind Finnish company Nokia and local rivals Samsung in terms of international sales, with both Apple and market newcomer Google expected to be a significant threat when smart phones land a more globally affordable appeal, as is expected later this year. While this will certainly leave LG with a serious battle on their hands, they may only need to find widespread appeal with one or two of their 20 new smart phone handsets, which will be launched at regular intervals of little more than two weeks over the coming year. The level of optimism shown in the sales projections remains to be seen.
