LG Electronics Inc, the world's sixth-largest cell phone maker, said on Sunday it would triple its handset output in Brazil to take advantage of a market in which it expects sales to quickly double. The company will raise the annual output of mobile phones in Brazil to 6.5 million units by 2007 by adding production lines, more than tripled from now, LG said in a statement.
"Handset sales in Brazil are expected to grow by over 100 percent in the coming years," Na Joo-young, an LG spokeswoman said. " Brazil also has a geographical advantage in the region. We'll make it as a strategic business hub in Latin America."
The expansion plan is part of LG's strategies aimed at shoring up its global handset market share to 15 percent by 2007 from 6.3 percent now, making it one of the world's top 3 handset makers.
It currently ranks behind Nokia, Motorola, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Siemens AG and Sony-Ericsson.
LG, which makes compact folding models, incorporating colour screens and mega pixel digital cameras, has lured customers from more established rivals.
It expects sales to soar 57 percent to 43 million phones this year.
In Brazil, LG hopes to secure a 20 percent cell phone market share by 2006 to become a top supplier in the country.
With the Brazil expansion, LG's capacity would rise to over 70 million handsets globally by the end of 2005.
It has overseas plants in China, Mexico and India.