SK Telecom Co. (SKM), South Korea's largest mobile phone carrier by revenue, said Thursday it plans to sell more than 2 million smartphones this year, as part of its effort to boost a fast growing wireless data services market.

The mobile operator also said it expects to launch a lineup of 15 smartphones this year and 25 in 2013, mostly running on Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android operating system, which will account for around 40% of its total handset offerings.

The latest move underscores the Korean mobile carrier's effort to compete better with rivals in a fast growing smartphone segment at a time when overall handset sales fell due to the recent global economic slump.

"While focusing on the Android operating system, (SK Telecom) will also adopt various kinds of mobile platforms and will help proliferate the usage of smartphones and wireless Internet," Ha Sung-min, president of SK Telecom's mobile network operator department, said in a statement.

Ha also said SK Telecom will improve conditions to help customers easily use mobile content through their handsets as well as other electronics gadgets embedded with wireless Internet capability.

Source:Dow Jones