South Korean Cell Phone Manufacturers Raise Export Targets
Tuesday March 9, 1:01 PM
SEOUL, March 9 Asia Pulse - With demand for cellular phones increasing worldwide, South Korean mobile phone makers are raising export targets for the year, industry insiders said today.
Pantech Co. (KSE:025930) and its affiliate Pantech & Curitel Communications Inc., which jointly rank third after Samsung Electronics Co. (KSE:005930) and LG Electronics Inc. (KSE:066570) in handset output here, have decided to increase their combined export target by 5 million units estimated at 500 billion won (US$426.5 million) to 20 million units worth 3.5 trillion won.
They exported 2.1 trillion won worth of cell phones last year.
Company officials said they adjusted the goal after exporting 2.9 million handsets worth 530 billion won in the first two months of this year, almost twice the 1.55 million units worth 220 billion won exported in the same period last year.
"We've got better results than expected this year thanks to soaring demand from new markets, such as the Middle East, Russia and Southeast Asia," a Pantech official said.
Telson Electronics Co. also lifted the export goal to 2.8 million units worth 560 billion won from the initially-set 2.5 million worth 500 billion won.
Telson is also considering an expansion of its target, saying that the global cell phone market has recovered fast since it hit the bottom in the third quarter of last year.
LG and Samsung have yet to increase handset export goals, but are still confident that their results will exceed their targets this year.
LG Electronics, aiming at 31 million units for this year, exported 2.35 million units in January, up 64 per cent from a year earlier.
Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 2 wireless phone producer, has set this year's export target at 57 million, up from 48 million in sales in 2003.
(Yonhap) |
