[THE INVESTOR] Pantech, the nation’s No. 3 handset-maker, will launch its latest smartphone IM-100 on June 30, the first launch since its Vega Pop-up Note phablet in November 2014.

The new phone, whose price starts at 449,900 won (US$386), is a budget smartphone that boasts 7-millimeter thickness and weighs 130 grams. It features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 processor and LG Display’s display screen. 

One of the key features includes wireless charging supported by the company’s own charger called Stone.

“The IM-100 didn’t focus on competing by offering excessive functions. The phone aims to diversify users’ daily lives,” Pantech CEO Moon Ji-wook said in a recent press conference in Seoul.

With the new launch, the company has also revived the SKY brand that led the company’s heyday as a hot-selling feature phone manufacturer in the early 2000s.

Until 2011 when the company posted record sales, Pantech was a leading player in the nation’s phone market, launching several hit phones. But the company failed to respond quickly to the smartphone trend.

After years of financial struggles and search for a new owner, the company was acquired by a local consortium, led by local optical manufacturer Optis and telecom device-maker Solid, in July last year.

In a business presentation early this year, the company announced it aimed to elevate sales to 1.5 trillion won by 2018, citing the Internet of Things and wearables as well as smartphones as its key growth businesses.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com">jylee@heraldcorp.com)