According to a report in the Korea Times, LG could become the world’s fourth largest handset maker. In the report, the company said it expects to “surge head” of current forth place holder Sony Ericsson during the first quarter. The report says that “industry sources” anticipate LG will sell over 23 million mobile phones in the first quarter of 2008, while Sony-Ericsson is expected to sell only 22 million.
\The company says it has sold more than 1 million Viewty phones worldwide, since the handset was introduced during Q4 2007. And the company has sold 700,000 Voyager and 500,000 Venus handsets during the same period.
Meanwhile Motorola’s mobile handset unit is still losing market share; it recently slipped to the No. 3 spot worldwide and analysts estimate could slip further to No. 4. Both Sony Ericsson and LG have said they want to increase market share, with Sony Ericsson's stated goal of reaching the No. 3 spot worldwide by 2011. LG has said it hopes to reach No. 3 by 2010.
Consumers have become increasingly sophisticated and are demanding easier access to a broad array of financial services.
Historically, carrier focus has been on attracting new customers, but now the market is reaching saturation.
