LG guns for Samsung; iPhone competitor, Prada III , Android phones and new high end brand all in the works

LG continues to prove itself as a force to be reckoned with and following a story from the Korean Yohap News Agency, it’s plenty clear that the handset manufacturer has no intentions of slowing down any time soon. LG’s head of Mobile Ahn Seung-kwon reportedly coughed up a hell of an interview with Yohap, during the course of which several tasty morsels came to light:

* LG, currently holding the number three position where global cell phone market share is concerned, plans to slide into the number two spot by 2012. That’s two and a half years from now for those of you keeping score at home. Samsung — consider yourself on notice.
* In Q4 of this year, LG will release a “Black Label” phone that will supposedly do battle with the iPhone. We’ve never heard that claim before of course, so we’re very excited to see what shapes up.
* LG is currently working on the third iteration of its Prada phone, though no release timing was specified.
* Smartphones are a particular area of interest for the company moving forward and it will focus on Windows Mobile and Android as far as OSes are concerned.
* The company plans to attack the ultra high end market with a new premium line of handsets “similar to Toyota’s Lexus and Nokia’s Vertu”. We’re not sure how that will help LG in its quest for the number two spot in terms of market share but hey, at least BG will have a few more toys to play with.

Ok, deep breaths. LG clearly has its sights set high and the continued quality of the handsets it churns out is promising. At the same time, the manufacturer has yet to shine where innovation is concerned — something it will certainly need to do if it plans to make a real run at passing Samsung for the number two spot.