LG’s Optimus One
South Korean electronics giant LG Group is planning to increase its development spend in 2011 as it looks to become a major player in the mobile handset space.
Reuters reports that the firm will increase spending by 12% to $18.2bn next year, with the majority of that amount going to its LG Electronics unit, which specialises in mobile phones, TVs and monitors.
"The focus for 2011 will be bolstering our core businesses of smartphones, tablets, TVs and large-sized displays and also supporting new growth engines such as solar cell, new types of displays and small-sized display panels for smartphones and tablets," the group told Reuters.
The firm has a decent selection of handsets on the market, including the Viewty Snap and the Optimus One, the Android-powered smartphone introduced in October. LG has shifted two million units since then, according to Reuters. The firm also recent announced the Optimus 7, which runs Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system.
The company has a long way to go to catch up with the big boys in the mobile space. Apple has shifted over 100 million iOS devices, which includes iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch. In fact, LG’s mobile division saw sales plummet 32% during its third quarter, its worst quarter on record, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In October this year the firm replaced its CEO with a member of LG’s founding family.
