TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan's leading smartphone maker HTC opened its first store in Myanmar on Monday, seeking a foothold in one of Asia's last remaining untapped markets.

The shop was inaugurated in Yangon by HTC chief executive officer Peter Chou, an ethnic Chinese who was born and raised in the South-east Asian country, the company said in a statement, adding that more shops will be set up.

Sales are carried out through KMD Computer Group, an information product and cellphone distributor in Myanmar, it said.

More than six types of handsets with localised character features were available to local consumers as of Monday, it said.

Global corporate giants from Coca-Cola to General Electric are lining up to enter the impoverished but resource-rich nation, which is emerging from decades of military rule and international isolation.

In a report released in March last year, analyst Nomura Research said Myanmar was "one of the last untapped telco markets in the region", with government plans to increase mobile penetration by 50 per cent by 2015.

While challenged by Apple and Samsung in mature markets, HTC has been turning to emerging markets including China, analysts say.

But it faces challenges from China's telecom giants Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, which have grabbed a huge slice of the world's low-priced markets.

HTC in December unveiled Butterfly, its first smartphone featuring a high-resolution five-inch screen.

HTC sells its own smartphones and also makes handsets for a number of leading US companies, such as Google's Nexus One.