LGE growing handset market share to benefit Taiwan production partners

LG Electronics' handset production partners, including chipset supplier MediaTek and ODM handset makers Arima Communications, Compal Communications and Foxconn International Holdings (FIH), are expected to benefit from the Korea vendor's continuing expansion in the global handset market, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

LGE has reported handset shipments of 29.82 million units for the second quarter of 2009, increasing 32% from the previous quarter and 7.8% from a year earlier. LGE's second-quarter shipments are likely to account for an 11% share of the global handset shipments for the second quarter, the highest ever level for the company, estimated the industry sources.

Among Taiwan makers, Arima is expected to ship 3-5 new entry-level handsets to LGE in the second half of this year, including 1-2 models to be launched worldwide, said the sources.

Compal has landed an order for Windows Mobile-based smartphones from LGE with shipments to begin in the third quarter, the sources indicated.