Taiwan market: Samsung aims to ship 1.8 million handsets in 2008

Samsung Electronics aims to take up a 25% share of the Taiwan handset market with shipments totaling 1.8 million units in 2008, according to Scott Huang, vice president of the mobile communication unit at Samsung Taiwan.

Samsung's handset shipments in Taiwan will top 1.1 million units in 2007, surpassing its target of one million units, Huang said.

To sustain its goal for 2008, Samsung plans to launch at least two new handsets per month, or 24 models for the year, with half of the new models being 3G handsets, Huang noted.

New handsets to be launched by the second quarter of 2008 will include the first top fashion handset that Samsung co-developed with Giorgio Armani, the next-generation Ultra Edition handsets and its first 8-megapixel handset, according to the company's roadmap.

In other news, Samsung was ranked as the third largest handset vendor in Taiwan in November, accounting for a 14.8% share in terms of unit sales and a 9.9% share in terms of sales value, according to data compiled by sources in channels in Taiwan channels.