LG Electronics eyes world's top 3D TV maker

LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's leading consumer electronics maker, said Wednesday it wants to raise the global market share of its 3D televisions to more than 25 percent in 2012, which would make it the world's largest producer of such products. The company quoted Havis Kwon, president and chief executive of LG Electronics, as saying at a consumer electronics show in the U.S. that it is seeking to become the top global 3D TV producer this year, outstripping current industry leader Samsung Electronics Co. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opened Monday and will run until Friday in Las Vegas. "If the company can rank first in terms of sales of 3D TVs, I believe LG Electronics' revenues from smart TVs will top the list in the global markets," Kwon said. According to the company, its share of the global 3D TV market at the end of last year was estimated to be about 20 percent, up markedly from around 6 percent in 2010. Ro Seog-ho, a senior official in the company's TV division, said the firm is seeking to increase sales of TVs by 15 to 20 percent this year by selling more than 30 million units. Last year, its TV sales grew 10 percent from the previous year. LG Electronics unveiled a smart TV based on Google Inc's Android operating system at the trade show. Such Google TVs will go on sale in the United States during the first quarter of the year. Kwon added that the company will aim to penetrate into emerging markets more this year as advanced economies are suffering from the bitter impacts of the global downturn. The global economic slowdown and the eurozone debt crisis are increasing economic uncertainty, which is feared to hit local tech firms' exports. This year's consumer electronics products trade show features a spate of smart TVs and a new lineup of smartphones and tablet computers.