BEIJING, September 13 (InfoChina) -- Lenovo Group (HK: 0992, LNVGY.PK), the world’s third-largest personal computer manufacturer, has surpassed Ningbo Bird to become the Chinese mainland's largest mobile-phone maker in the second quarter of 2006, according to a report released on September 12 by market research firm IDC.

During the quarter, Lenovo achieved a market share of 6.5% by selling 1.93 million handsets, up from 4.6% a year earlier.

The ex-No.1, Ningbo Bird, however, clinched a market share of 5.5% with sales of 1.63 million mobile phones during the period, down from 8.1% a year earlier. 

But foreign brands still dominant the Chinese market, where 30 million mobile phones were sold in the second quarter.

Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer, accounted for 34.5% market share, followed by Motorola’s market share of 22.8%. South Korea's Samsung Electronics ranked the third with 9.4%.

As if encouraged by its growth in domestic handset market, Lenovo vows to build its handset business into a growth engine after its maturing PC business.

The company targets a market share of 10% by next April. To support this goal, its new plant in Xiamen, Fujian province is due to produce 15 million mobile phones in its first year of operation, which can be expanded into 30 million ones at the utmost.