LG Elec sees 2006 handset shipment up 25-30 percent: Lehman

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Electronics Inc forecasts its mobile phone shipments to grow between 25 and 30 percent in 2006 over this year's estimated 55 million units, Lehman Brothers said on Friday.

In a global technology conference in the United States organised by the brokerage, LG said it expected the volume of the global handset market to grow between 8 and 10 percent next year from 2005's projected 770 million units, the brokerage said in an email sent to clients.

Based on the estimates, LG's global market share should rise in 2006 to between 8.3 percent and 8.4 percent from the 6.5 percent-level in the first half and a projected 7 percent for this year.

The forecast pace of sales growth was faster than that given by its bigger, local rival, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which said in November it expected to see its handset shipments rising between 15 and 20 percent to a maximum 120 million units next year.

LG, the world's fourth-largest handset maker, has been trying to win more market share in handset, flat-screen and home appliance markets with high-end products.

In late October, the company announced a plan to boost its global share in the handset market to more than 10 percent in 2007, or selling 100 million mobile phones.

The latest LG projection also compares with the forecast given last week by Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, which saw more than 10 percent growth in global handset sale volume in 2006 from its estimate of 780 million units this year.

LG, which trails Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in the world mobile phone market, expected 30 percent of total handsets shipped in the global market to be the pricier 3G models, Lehman also said.

For the home appliance market where the South Korean firm aims to become the world's top white-goods maker by 2007, the company said it has achieved a 20 percent share in the United States.

It started supplying its products to Home Depot Inc, the world's largest home improvement retailer, early this year.