How strong the Korean handset makers?
It’s a new report by Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) about handset market over the past few years and I think it’s a good reading for 3GWeek readers. Please keep it for the future reference.
“In 2004, Siemens shut down its handset business as it was unable to keep up with the rapidly-changing handset industry. In 2007, Motorola had problems with its handset business. Even Sony-Ericsson is in trouble in 2008. In Korea, midsized makers closed down their handset businesses. Between 2005 and 2006, Samsung and LG faced difficulties as well. Both companies underwent growing pains due to the lack of low-end phones and baseband chips and trouble with component makers.
However, since 2007, Samsung Electronics (Samsung) and LG Electronics (LG) have been showing meaningful growth due to the management capabilities of the new CEOs. The resurrection of Korean handset makers is something to note when considering the fast product lifecycle which makes it difficult to recover from a state of lull in the handset industry.
KIS says that in 2Q08, LG is expected to rise to the world’s 3rd place past Motorola, and is already seeing a significant improvement in shipment volume and profitability…”
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May 25th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Viva Asia ….