LG had an exceptional run last year helping them to land the #3 spot in the international market by the end of 2008. Part of that success can be attributed to the huge sales of their QWERTY-equipped handsets.

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As a matter of fact, they were able to ship a record 12.7 million QWERTY handsets in 2008 which is the best so far in the short history of the company. That’s a huge improvement from the 2.7 millions units sold in 2007. Because of their success in this niche, they now own a 20.8% market share in North America which was only pegged at 15.8% in 2007. As they continue to churn out more QWERTY-equipped devices, we have no doubt they’ll continue to improve on their current performance.

They may not be the #1 mobile phone manufacturer in the world nor are they the king of touchscreen phones, but at a time when positive growth in the market is hard to come by, their rise in the industry is definitely a remarkable feat on its own.

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