Samsung aims to double its share in smartphone market

Samsung Electronics, the world’s second-largest mobile-phone maker, aims to more than double its share of the smartphone market, helped by the introduction of its Galaxy S model. 

Samsung intends to raise its market share for smartphones to more than 10 percent in the fourth quarter from its current level of less than 5 percent, Lee Donjoo, senior vice president of company’s Mobile Communications Division, said in an interview in Seoul on Tuesday. 

A 10 percent market share may lift Samsung’s ranking among smartphone makers to fourth from fifth, surpassing Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC Corp., which had a 7 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2009 according to an April 20 CLSA Ltd. report. Nokia Oyj, the largest smartphone maker has a 40 percent share. Global sales of smartphones will rise 36 percent to 247 million handsets in 2010, research firm ISuppli Corp. said in April. 

“Samsung may easily meet the target as the handset market is sharply transferring to smartphones and the hardware features of the Galaxy S are pretty competitive in the market,” said Lee Sun Tae, a senior analyst at Meritz Securities Co. Ltd. in Seoul. 

The 11 people who received Galaxy S smartphones first pose at Samsung Electronics on Tuesday. Samsung Electronics