LG Mobile Seeking 10 Percent Global Smartphone Share By 2012

LG Mobile Phones will launch Optimus smartphones this fall with a goal of grabbing 10 percent of the growing global market by 2012, company officials said. The push will be led by LG’s Google Android and Microsoft Windows Mobile 7-based smartphones, which will displace earlier models based on a home-grown operating system and user interface, company officials said. LG is expected to ship up to 10 Optimus models globally this year, but plans for North America aren’t finalized, said LG Mobile spokeswoman Demetra Kavadeles.

LG Mobile has sought to compete with Apple and Samsung in smartphones but has come up short, analysts said. The EnV Touch cellphone was discontinued, as was the Windows Mobile 6.5-based LG eXpo, which shipped in late December, marketed with an optional pico projector, company officials said. LG, which has 18 percent of the North America cellphone market, forecast shipping 140 million units this year, company officials have said.

"The projector option, while it was exciting techwise, wasn’t picked up on by consumers,” Kavadeles said. “The phone did well for us, but it sold itself” without the DLP-based projector, which cost $199.

Few details of the new Optimus line have been released. But the Android-based Optimus One smartphone is said to have a 3.8-inch active matrix OLED display and microSD and microSDHC slots. The Optimus Chic is said to have an AMOLED along with Bluetooth 2.1, and is launching in Europe, company officials said. LG also is expected to field an Android tablet PC, company officials have said.

Preparing to release smartphones, LG Mobile created an applications store in South Korea. It also created separate smartphone and feature phone development groups overseen by a global operations center. Smartphones will allow Internet connections for downloading music, video and applications. The feature phones are a lower-cost alternative for delivering cellphone service, company officials said. LG shipped its first Android-based feature phone, the Ally, in May through Verizon featuring a 3.2-inch LCD with 800x480 resolution, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and stereo Bluetooth.

"I think there is enough room for both phones,” Kavadeles said. “There will still be a market for feature phones” despite the recent push by smartphones. A lot of people may not need” an Android or Windows 7 Mobile model, and “feature phones are based on a reliable phone for taking pictures and sending data,” she said. “It’s nice we have a robust roadmap so that you can have a little bit of both” smartphones and feature phones.

LG Mobile also continues to support Qualcomm’s FLO TV mobile TV service. AT&T has marketed the LG Vu CU920 cellphone with FLO TV, which carries a $9.99 monthly fee for 20 channels. Verizon is marketing LG’s VX9400 cellphone featuring FLO TV at $199 on a two-year contract. Qualcomm is weighing putting FLO TV for sale or spinning it off.

FLO TV is making “slow-moving progress because consumers are just now catching on now that you can get live TV,” Kavadeles said. “I think the device sells itself and then you get the added bonus of FLO TV. It’s an awareness factor, because consumers still don’t know about the service.”