A worker holds a Lava mobile handset at its manufacturing plant, in Noida, India, October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBENGALURU, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Homegrown Indian mobile phone firm Lava will launch 4G feature phones as it aims to corner a third of the market share for the entry-level devices within a year, while also gradually boosting its budget smartphones, a top executive said. Since it was set up in 2009, Lava has become popular for the budget phones, which have a keypad but no high-end features. Research firm Counterpoint estimates that Lava has a share of less than 1% in the world's second-biggest smartphone market, with 650 million such devices. Lava also plans to boost its smartphone offerings in the budget segment.

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Persons: Anushree, Sunil Raina, Mukesh, Raina, Munsif, Aditya Kalra, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, International, Reuters, Samsung, HK, Thomson Locations: Noida, India, China, Bengaluru