HTC will launch at least three smartphones based on Google's Android platform in 2009.

The Taiwanese company will launch at least two more Google phones than it has already announced, HTC CEO Peter Chou said Tuesday at a Merrill Lynch technology conference in Taipei, Taiwan. HTC has already launched the T-Mobile G1 and will launch the Magic in the second quarter of this year with Vodafone.

The launch of three Android phones in 2009 would solidify HTC's lead in the Android market. HTC has also slowly started to increase its smartphone market share, climbing to 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, up from 3.7 percent in the year-ago quarter, according to Gartner.

Chou affirmed the company's projected 10 percent to 20 percent growth forecast for 2009 and said that HTC hopes to make significant inroads in the Chinese market.

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