Mobile Phone Sales Set Korean Record

Sales of mobile phones in the domestic market were the largest in history in the first half of this year with more than 13 million handsets. According to sales performance records released by three domestic cell phone manufacturers -- Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Pantech -- 13.41 million handsets were sold in the first half, up 28.9 percent from the first half of last year, when 10.4 million were sold.

This means an average of more than 2 million cell phones were sold every month. The number is the largest in history, and if the trend continues throughout the latter half of this year, total sales for the year 2008 are expected to pass well beyond 20 million.

Samsung Electronics sold 7.16 million units, or 53 percent of the total, and LG Electronics 3.58 million, or 27 percent. Pantech took a 15 percent share with 1.96 million. An industry insider attributed the stellar performance to a series of new high-tech models with crystal-clear touch screens and aggressive marketing of third-generation models or smartphones.