Samsung announces plans to triple smartphone to 18 million units in 2010

The world’s second most prolific cell phone maker has clearly decided which part of the global market it wants to focus on in 2010: Samsung told a press conference in South Korea this week that it would aim to triple its six million smartphones sold in 2009 for the new year.

According to Bloomberg News, Samsung’s mobile communication boss J.K. Shin told the press conference that "we expect our shipment growth to be more than double that of the industry. We plan to differentiate ourselves by providing smartphones that support various operating systems and applications."

The South Korean company shipped 227 million total phones in 2009, Bloomberg News says, and plans to boost its total sales to 270 million, a nearly 20 percent increase. That agency also reported that Samsung’s rival LG was eyeing an overall sales increase similar to that expected by its larger rival.

Experts say that Samsung will manufacture smartphones using a variety of wireless application platforms, including Android, Symbian, and its own proprietary OS, Bada, according to CNBC.