Korean electronics giant LG has overtaken Motorola for the third-place spot in world phone shipments this past year, tips reportedly passed on from within the company suggest. While no public tally is available, LG is said to have internally estimated that it has shipped about 100 million phones throughout the course of 2008, putting it just ahead of an estimated 99.9 million from its American rival. The number would also edge out Sony Ericsson's 96.6 million.

Nokia and LG's local competitor Samsung are still assumed to have kept wide leads, with Nokia pushing as many as 470 million phones and Samsung delivering 200 million.

Reasons for LG's record figure aren't known, though the company has made a significant step into high-end phones with the Prada, Viewty and other touchscreen devices. It also has a significantly improved position in the US where phones like the Dare, Shine and Voyager have helped push out competitors.

Motorola in contrast has few high-end phones and has been partly marginalized even in its home country, where iPhones outsold RAZRs at least temporarily during the summer.