The world’s No. 3 mobile phone manufacturer, LG Electronics Inc., has launched a smartphone based on Google’s mobile operating system Android on Wednesday in South Korea. LG has been looking forward to add to its relatively weak smartphone lineup.

LG is now fighting a difficult battle against other smartphone manufacturers like Nokia, Blackberry maker RIM and Apple. It hopes to substantiate its smartphone offerings with the help of 20 new models this year, among which half would be based on the Android software. LG hopes to make a double-digit share in the smartphone market by 2012, a market in which three quarters is controlled by the top three players.

The new model that got released is called LG-KH5200. The country’s second largest mobile service provider KT is in charge of selling the phone. Earlier this year, Motorola released its Android based smartphone MOTOROI through the country’s top carrier SK Telecom.

The smartphone from LG comes with 3-inch full touch screen, 5 megapixel camera, and slider qwerty keyboard. The phone will cost around 650,000 won ($573).

Although LG and its tough competitor Samsung hold a 30 percent market share in the global cellphone market, both of them have failed to capitalize on the growing need for smartphones. Samsung reported that it is going to unveil Android phones this month.