By It is no secret that LG has an Android Phone in the works and today the company not only confirmed this, but they also laid out their overall aspirations in the mobile market. Ma Chang-min, vice-president of marketing strategy for Mobile Communications at LG, said the company would unveil 80 handsets, 12 of which would be smartphones with 1 Android coming by year end.
LG is currently the #3 global mobile manufacturer, trailing only Nokia and Samsung. Amidst a global economic downturn, LG is confident that not only will it maintain its 10% marketshare this year but it will grow to become the #2 global mobile manufacturer by the year 2012. That is certainly a lofty goal.
One way they could get to #2 is by leveraging the Android Operating System although right now, Samsung – the company they are trying to leapfrog – has the head start with their own Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy. LG has also been testing their own Application Store which seems to be the thing to do these days, but MocoNews reports they are reluctant to venture outside Korea with the app store for fear of “ticking off” carrier partners.
While Nokia sits far ahead with 36 percent share, LG and Samsung might think they’re battling for #2 with 10% and 19% share respectively, but both had better watch out for HTC who is currently dominating the Android game. There is no doubt that Android is in the midst of becoming a HUGE global player and the manufacturers that get on board early will have a lot to gain.
LG will have 1 Android Phone in 2009. Samsung will have at least one (Galaxy). HTC already has the G1/Dream, Magic/MyTouch 3G, and they seem poised to announce at least one more phone in London. What impact could Android have on these manufacturing market share when we look back on 2009?
[Via Reuters]
I’m getting so impatient waiting for other manufacturers to jump on Android, and for Verizon to have android phones. It kills me!!
I don’t want to switch to t-mobile, or use an HTC phone. HTC can’t design a phone to save their lives, let alone a reliable phone that stands up to abuse. I’m sure the LG will be amazing, hell the iPhone was inspired by an LG phone.
I too can’t wait for someone else to get on the Android bandwagon and release some phones. I jumped ship from Verizon just to get this G1 and I hate the T-Mobile service. I rarely get full bars when I’m traveling around the country as I do so much for work. I’m ready to go back to Vertizon if they’d just get off their butt’s and get the Motorola Calgary out!
Agreed! I have Verizon now and every day it’s an internal struggle for me wanting an Android. If they would just get off their butts, I wouldn’t have to worry about jumping ship, but noooo. As a result, I’m torn between switching to Sprint for the Hero, T-Mo for the G2/Mytouch, Galaxy, Huawei G3(?) , or even AT&T for the Lancaster. My only beef w/ the Lancaster is the screen size. I said if someone makes the HTC Magic w/ a slide-out Qwerty, then that’s my next phone. They did, but they apparently shrunk it :-(.
Now its like, do I ride it out on Verizon ’til the end of the year and see what they release (Hello Moto?), or do I grab one of these and never look back? I’ve said from the jump that a hardware keyboard is a must for me.. but now w/ the majority of the closest-to-being-released Androids all lacking.. I’m wondering if I make the jump to an OSK, or wait until almsot Christmas for what I really wanted?
I will say that I currently have an HTC Titan, and it’s almost made contact w/ the WALL quite a few times …
I don’t see HTC becoming a big player. The had some success with the G1, but the MyTouch seems to be a near exact copy with some minimal memory upgrades and no keyboard. With several other competitors soon releasing Android powered phones, I don’t see how HTC can stay in the market without some innovation.