Pantech to Challenge Apple in Korea
By Kim Yoo-chul Staff Reporter Pantech, the nation's smallest handset manufacturer trailing Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, has vowed to challenge Apple's iPhone in South Korea's smartphone sector, a senior company executive said. By reiterating the rising popularity of smartphones that run on the Google-backed Android platform in the world’s most wired country, Pantech is planning to sell 1 million of the devices by the end of this year. "We forecast Android phones will beat iPhones from the latter half of this year in terms of total shipments as Android phones are being more widely used," Lee Yong-june, who handles Pantech's domestic marketing, said in a press conference held in its headquarters in northern Seoul, Wednesday. "It's evident more Android phones will roll out during the second and third quarter, justifying our ambitious bet on the models," Lee said, adding consumers will give more credit to the Android phones. Last, domestic sales marked 3.1 million out of 9.5 million sold worldwide, a company spokesman said. Steve Park, a representative of A