Report Notes Progress of Korean Mobile Phone Makers

iSuppli Corp, a research firm reported that Korean mobile-phone makers have made major strides as global trends in recent years but must deploy a more targeted market approach to sustain profitability.

In the first quarter this year, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. became the No. 3 and No. 4 handset suppliers in the world, respectively, but Nokia and Motorola had a 4.5 times larger average revenue per handset than both Korean companies.

An iSuppli spokesperson noted, "To cope with the challenges of achieving higher positions, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics must adopt additional strategies beyond just offering the widest variety of models in the market,"

"It will require more specific targeting of the key demographic users of handsets, in which Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will need to develop models that could have a larger share in each demographic," he said.

According to figures by iSuppli, Korean manufacturers produced about 27 percent of handsets distributed in the global market this year, the highest rate for any group of suppliers by country.

However, iSuppli predicted the share to decline, with the Korean companies adopting a target-marketing approach and rationalizing their product lineup.

Nokia and Motorola combined to earn $180 million in average revenue per handset models last year, compared to the $40 million by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics