LG aims to boost phone sales 20 pct, bets on Android

SEOUL Jan 13 (Reuters) - LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS), the world's No. 3 mobile phone maker, aims to increase its handset sales by 20 percent this year to 140 million units, the head of its handset business said on Wednesday.

LG, which trails Nokia NOK1VE.HE of Finland and home rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) in mobile phones, also plans to beef up its smartphone lineup, targetting a double-digit share of the global smartphone market in 2012.

LG will unveil about 20 smartphones this year, with more than half based on Google's (GOOG.O) Android operating system.

LG said its 2010 offerings would also include phones running on Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Windows Mobile and Linux software. LG executives declined to say how many Windows phones it was planning to release.

In February last year, LG signed a deal with Microsoft, then saying Windows Mobile would become the primary operating system for its smartphones. (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)