LG Electronics' new nyx (KU990) mobile phone which includes a 5-megapixel camera. /Courtesy of www.alonecrow.com

LG Electronics said Thursday that it will launch the Nyx (KU990), a 5-megapixel camera phone, in European markets this month. The Nyx has a touch-screen front panel and a built-in lens on the back. It lets users record video clips at high speed and play them back in slow motion.

Also on Thursday Sony Ericsson unveiled its K770, the latest in its Cybershot series of camera phones. The K770 is 14.5-mm thick and comes with a 3.2-megapixel camera. Sony will launch the phone in some selective markets, most likely the U.S. and Europe by the end of this year.

Europe has already been the scene of fierce competition between Samsung Electronics with its SGH-G600 and Nokia with the N95, both of which have 5-megapixel cameras.

With other regions turning to mid- to low-priced phones, Europe has become the largest market for high-end phones and phone makers are struggling to maintain an edge there.

An LG Electronics official said that as Samsung and LG's English Premiere League marketing indicates, Europe is such an important market that neither will concede it to the other. "We expect that 5-megapixel camera phones will spread globally from this quarter, led by the European markets," the official said.

Consultancy firm Gartner Dataquest estimated that 5-megapixel camera phones will sell around 17 million units this year, 29 million units in 2008 and 51 million units in 2009.

(englishnews@chosun.com )