LG plans big Windows Mobile effort

LG Electronics said it will soon release three new Windows Mobile phones, the opening act of what it called its "most aggressive smartphone strategy to date," which will see the company release a total of 13 new Windows Mobile phones by the end of next year.

The phones will be the first LG devices to run Windows Mobile 6.5, and LG said that they would target different market segments. One will be a full-touchscreen device, another will have a touch-slider interface with a Qwerty keyboard and a third will be a candy-bar phone with a Qwerty keyboard. The company said the phones are initially destined for the United States, Europe and Asia, but did not give any more specifics on pricing or availability.

LG has been somewhat hesitant on the smartphone front, but the company signed an agreement with Microsoft in February to make Windows Mobile its primary smartphone platform. Earlier this week, Microsoft said that WinMo 6.5 phones will be available beginning Oct. 6., and said the upgraded operating system would have an improved user interface and access to its Windows Marketplace for Mobile [1] application storefront.

In June, LG said it wants to become the world's No. 2 handset maker by 2010 (the company in the second quarter ranked third, with 11.2 percent of the global market, behind Samsung's 19.7 percent, according to iSuppli). LG said it would release about 80 handset models globally in 2009, and 12 would be high-end models.

For more:
- see this Reuters article [2]
- see this release [3]

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LG aims to be No. 2 handset maker by 2012 [6]
LG posts $148.5M loss, predicts rise in handset sales [7]