Since the company began producing the mobile devices in 1988, Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s third-largest mobile phone maker said yesterday its annual handset shipments topped 100 million this year.

“The achievement shows that Samsung is poised to be the centerpiece of the global mobile phone industry,” said Lee Ki-tae, the president of the company’s mobile phone division. To produce 100 million handsets a year, the company must produce more than three mobile phones every second, a statement by Samsung said.