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Taiwan market: LG launches KS10 smartphone, to also bring in KS20 and KU990 Viewty

Daniel Shen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES Asia

LG Electronics, on September 20, launched its first smartphone, the KS10, in the Taiwan market and plans to introduce another smartphone the KS20 in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Finsen Chen, vice president of telecom business unit at LGE Taiwan.

The KS10, which runs on Symbian 9.2 OS, has a number of built-in Google functions, including Google Maps and Gmail, and supports HSDPA and GPS, according to the company.

The KS20, however, will run on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6 OS, enabling LG to market both Symbian- and Windows Mobile-based smartphones simultaneously, Chen noted.

By the end of October, LG will also introduce its new Prada phone, the KU990 Viewty, into Taiwan, Chen indicated. The KU990 has a 3-inch touch screen display, a 5-megapixel camera and supports HSDPA.

For the first eight months of this year, LG sold 270,000 handsets in the Taiwan market, including 150,000 Chocolate handsets and 50,000 Shine-series models, Chen stated.

The company aims to ship 400,000 handsets and account for a 7% share of the Taiwan market in 2007, Chen projected.

LG's KS10 smartphone

LG's KS10 smartphone
Photo: Daniel Shen, Digitimes, September 2007