LG attempts smartphone comeback with focus on tech

15.02.2011
LG Electronics expects to sell more than 30 million smartphones this year, a fourfold increase over 2010, when it stumbled by being late to catch on to the smartphone trend.

The world's third biggest mobile phone vendor after Nokia and Samsung Electronics plans to launch 20 smartphone models globally this year and hopes it can entice people with high technology. One of its new phones, the Optimus 3D, allows users to take pictures and video in 3D, and view 3D on its 4.3-inch screen without using special glasses.

"We’re excited about the prospects of the LG Optimus 3D taking the smartphone experience to a much higher level,” said Park Jong-seok, president and CEO of LG Mobile Communications, in a statement.

The focus on new products means LG will expand its research and development workforce to more than 6,000 people, up 15 percent over last year, and invest heavily to boost its overall capability.

Last year, LG struggled.

The company didn't even come close to its 2010 mobile phone target of 140 million units, shipping only 116.7 million, which was down slightly from the previous year. The South Korean electronics giant's handset division also posted an operating loss of 658 billion Korean won (US$587 million) last year, and the value of sales fell 25 percent year on year.