South Korea’s LG Electronics is reportedly closing the gap with competitor Sony Ericsson to become the world’s No. 4 handset maker.

Analysts estimate LG to sell over 23 million mobile phones in the first quarter, higher than some 21 million forecasts earlier, while Sony-Ericsson is likely to sell 22 million in the January-March period.

"We will surge ahead of Sony Ericsson in the first quarter thanks to our release of new models ? such as the `Viewty,’ `Venus’ and `Voyager’ ? and increased presence in new markets," a senior LG executive is reported to have said.

He further claimed that more than 1 million Viewty phones have already been sold globally. Mid-tier Voyager and Venus phones reportedly saw 700,000 and 500,000 unit sales respectively during the period.