ASIA : LG Electronics Inc., South Korea's second-largest electronics maker, aims to become the world's No. 3 mobile-phone maker within three years by taking market share from competitors with a new generation of faster handsets.

LG Electronics is now the world's sixth-biggest maker of cellular phones and says it is No. 1 in North America for so- called third-generation, or 3G, phones that run on code-division multiple access technology. In the global handset market, it lags Nokia Oyj, Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Siemens AG and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd.

The company's experience will help it offer similar services in Europe, where most service providers plan to launch faster wireless services based on universal mobile telecommunications system technology next year, said Tai-Il Hyun, vice president for LG Electronics' 3GSM European business in an interview at the ITU Telecom World trade fair in Geneva.

''Growth will come from the GSM world as it transitions to 3G,'' Hyuan said, referring to operators who use global system for mobile communications networks, the world's dominant mobile technology. ''We have great expectations of what 3G will bring. The challenge will be to convince operators and the end-user that this is something that's beneficial.''

The new 3G phones offer users e-mail access, Internet surfing and the ability to watch video clips on networks that are more than 10 times faster than what's currently offered.

Shares of Seoul-based LG Electronics were unchanged at 61,200 won in Seoul as of 10:54 a.m. local time, bringing the gain this year to 48 percent.

Growth Targets

LG Electronics expects its handset sales to grow 30 percent to 40 percent next year, with most of that coming from countries using the GSM standard. The company sold 2.6 million mobile phones in August, a 76 percent increase
from 1.48 million a year earlier.

''In CDMA, we've reached the peak,'' Hyun said. ''There is little room for further growth there, whereas there is plenty of room for growth in GSM.'' Hyun said he expects ''triple-digit'' growth of sales in the GSM market in coming years, without elaborating. In Europe, including Russia, LG Electronics has about 3 percent to 4 percent of the mobile-phone market, Hyun said. Sales of GSM phones were profitable last year, he said.

The company is also tapping the GSM market in the U.S., having just shipped its first batch of phones to Cingular Wireless LLC, the No. 2 U.S. wireless company.

Camera phones are also helping spur sales. Of the 24 million phones that LG
Electronics aims to sell this year, about 30 percent will be equipped with cameras, Hyun said.

Exports at LG Electronics, which it forecasts will be about $2.75 billion this year, are boosting operating profit, Hyun said.LG Electronics is the biggest unit by sales of LG Group, Korea's second-largest business group.