Arima Communications and MediaTek to benefit from LGE increasing handset shipments, say sources

LG Electronics (LGE) has recently raised its shipment target of GSM handsets for 2009, a move which is likely to benefit its production partners in Taiwan, including ODM handset maker Arima Communications and handset solution provider MediaTek, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Arima is expected to ship over six million handsets to LGE this year, and more than 50% of the handsets shipped to LGE will be built on MediaTek chipset solutions, the sources explained.

Arima and MediaTek now play an important role in manufacturing handsets for LGE for global sales or customized models for various clients, including Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile, while their previous focus was to produce particular LG models for target markets such as India, Russia, or other regions in Latin America, the sources noted.

In addition to feature handsets, LGE has begun to release smartphone orders to Taiwan handset makers, said the sources, noting that Compal Communications is likely to start shipping smartphones to the Korea vendor at the end of 2009.

However, Arima still has a chance to win part of LGE's smartphone orders for 2010, the sources said.