3GScottishUser
15th February 2006, 10:03 AM
From The International Herald Tribune (14/02/2006):
The head of the European operations of LG Electronics on Tuesday outlined ambitious goals for the company, saying that it aimed to sell almost 30 percent more mobile phones this year by making deals to sell advanced models through more European operators.
LG, based in South Korea, hopes to sell 70 million phones this year compared with 55 million in 2005 and was looking to move into third place among handset manufacturers within the next few years, James Kim, LG's chief executive for Europe, said during an interview at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. Samsung Electronics, another South Korean company, is currently in third place behind Nokia and Motorola. According to the latest figures from the research firm Gartner, LG is in fourth place, closely followed by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.
The world market for mobile phones has so far continued to expand seemingly without limit, and Gartner has forecast that by 2009, one billion handsets will be sold each year, compared with sales of about 800 million in 2005. Kim predicted that Asian companies in particular would benefit from this growth.
By leveraging its success with third-generation, or 3G, handsets, which allow for fast Internet connections, video streaming and other advanced services, LG is looking to raise its market share in Europe by 30 percent, Kim said. LG in Europe already sells its phones through Orange, 3, Telefónica, T-Mobile and O2, but missing from the list is Vodafone.
"We are not doing well in the U.K., and the first step to taking care of that is to get an agreement with Vodafone," Kim said. An alliance with Vodafone would also give LG access to the other markets where the British cellphone giant has operations. Like most other handset makers, LG is moving into countries with less-developed economies, including Poland and Romania, but Kim said LG was not seeking large market shares in these countries or developing countries because low-cost handsets would hurt the company's profit margins.
"We are not seeking to make the $40 handset," Kim said, referring to Motorola's search for ever cheaper phones to sell in developing countries. "We are not willing to boost market share at the cost of profitability. The goal is to become No.3 in the world, but we will do that selling mid and high-end phones."
The average price of an LG phone is about $140, compared with about $120 for many of the other big manufacturers.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/14/business/lg.php
The head of the European operations of LG Electronics on Tuesday outlined ambitious goals for the company, saying that it aimed to sell almost 30 percent more mobile phones this year by making deals to sell advanced models through more European operators.
LG, based in South Korea, hopes to sell 70 million phones this year compared with 55 million in 2005 and was looking to move into third place among handset manufacturers within the next few years, James Kim, LG's chief executive for Europe, said during an interview at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. Samsung Electronics, another South Korean company, is currently in third place behind Nokia and Motorola. According to the latest figures from the research firm Gartner, LG is in fourth place, closely followed by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.
The world market for mobile phones has so far continued to expand seemingly without limit, and Gartner has forecast that by 2009, one billion handsets will be sold each year, compared with sales of about 800 million in 2005. Kim predicted that Asian companies in particular would benefit from this growth.
By leveraging its success with third-generation, or 3G, handsets, which allow for fast Internet connections, video streaming and other advanced services, LG is looking to raise its market share in Europe by 30 percent, Kim said. LG in Europe already sells its phones through Orange, 3, Telefónica, T-Mobile and O2, but missing from the list is Vodafone.
"We are not doing well in the U.K., and the first step to taking care of that is to get an agreement with Vodafone," Kim said. An alliance with Vodafone would also give LG access to the other markets where the British cellphone giant has operations. Like most other handset makers, LG is moving into countries with less-developed economies, including Poland and Romania, but Kim said LG was not seeking large market shares in these countries or developing countries because low-cost handsets would hurt the company's profit margins.
"We are not seeking to make the $40 handset," Kim said, referring to Motorola's search for ever cheaper phones to sell in developing countries. "We are not willing to boost market share at the cost of profitability. The goal is to become No.3 in the world, but we will do that selling mid and high-end phones."
The average price of an LG phone is about $140, compared with about $120 for many of the other big manufacturers.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/14/business/lg.php