LG Electronics Inc. has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2014. Overall the company has seen a 319 percent increase in first-quarter net profits compared with the same period last year, mainly due to strong sales of larger-sized TVs and better cost structure resulting from declining material prices. Its mobile communications unit, which is responsible for LG’s smartphone business, saw some impressive increases in the number of devices shipped, however overall it didn’t make a profit.
The LG Mobile Communications Company shipped 12.3 million smartphones in the first quarter, 5 million of which were LTE enabled. That is the highest number of LTE smartphones LG has ever shipped in a single quarter, an increase of 79 percent year-over-year. LG Mobile also saw its revenue increase by 6 percent year-on-year to $3.19 billion. The company also reports that due to the launch of the G Pro 2 it saw its operating profit margins rose quarter-on-quarter.LG's smartphone sales will hit an all-time high during the second quarter.
The company also has big plans for the LG G3 and expects that its second quarter revenues will increase further when the phone is released. It also expects higher revenues with the wider roll-out of the cheaper L Series III. Earlier this month analysts forecast that LG’s smartphone sales will hit an all-time high during the second quarter. It is expected to sell some 15 million handsets during the three months ending June 2014. If it manages to meet expectations then it is estimated that LG will sell 60 million smartphones during 2014. This all means that LG’s mobile business should make a profit this year and reverse its current loss-making trend.
LG is South Korea’s second-largest smartphone company after Samsung. Although LG’s smartphone shipments rose by 19 percent, data from the research firm Strategy Analytics shows that its market share slipped as Huawei Technologies Co. and Lenovo Group Ltd. shipped 13.4 million and 13.3 million units, respectively, during the same period.