Samsung Electronics announced it released the Wave 2 smartphone, operating on its proprietary mobile operating system Bada, for the first time here on Sunday, while making moves to gain a bigger share in the mid-tier smartphone market.

Serviced by SK Telecom, Wave 2 is equipped with a 3.7-inch super clear liquid-crystal display screen and a 5 million pixel camera and presents digital multimedia broadcasting of major local TV stations, according to Samsung officials.

It also features an integrated messaging system called “Social Hub” that enables people to access not only popular social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook and MeToday, but also e-mail, text messages, calendar and address book services.

Wave 2 is expected to compete against mid-range smartphones running on Google’s Android mobile platform such as LG Electronics’ Mach and Pantech’s Mirach. Grabbing a bigger stake in that market is important, as Samsung plans to sell 10 million Bada phones by June.

According to recent research done by market researcher Strategy Analytics, the global market for mid-range models between $100 and $200 is estimated to jump to $28 billion in 2014, sharply up from $7 billion last year.

Wave 2 ― which comes in three different colors ― is priced at about 700,000 won ($628.53), however, it could be purchased at around 100,000 won for those who signed up for a monthly mobile payment plan of at least 45,000 won for two years.

“We’re planning to offer varied and differentiated content that can be accessed by Wave 2,” a Samsung official said.

As a start, the global electronics giant said it introduced a mobile application store called “Samsung Apps,” which presents 13 different categories of content like entertainment, navigation, health and living, with the launch of the Bada OS mobile phone.

Bada’s launch in Korea takes place after being delayed many times since late last year.

The previous version of Wave 2 was released on the European market ― including France and Germany ― for the first time in May last year and the second version was also presented in November.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)