SEOUL, April 8, 2010 (AFP) - South Korea's top manufacturers of mobile handsets produced more units overseas than at home for the first time last year, depressing exports, a state agency reported Thursday.
In 2009 handset exports by the three local firms -- Samsung, LG and Pantech-Curitel Communication -- dropped 14 percent from the previous year, the National IT Industry Promotion Agency said in a report.
The agency attributed the decline in exports to the drop in the local production of mobile handsets, which in 2009 fell to 147.7 million, down 9.2 percent from a year earlier.
Overseas production rose to 207.1 million handsets, a 48.9 percent increase over the same period, the agency said, noting that it was the first time the three firms produced more handsets overseas than in South Korea
In total, the three firms produced 354.8 million handsets both at home and abroad in 2009, up 17.6 percent from a year earlier, it said.
Exports of handsets from South Korea will continue to drop as the manufacturers build more factories abroad, it said.
Samsung has handset plants in China, Vietnam, India and Brazil while LG has handset-making ventures in India and Brazil. Pantech-Curitel produces handsets in China.
