LG Posts Higher Shipment Volumes, Lower Revenues

South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter of the last year and for the entire year 2009. Overall, the company reported “record revenues and operating profits in the fourth quarter of 2009, reflecting the results of the company’s successful strategy and competitiveness during the current recession,” but this does not apply to its LG Mobile Communications Company too, it seems.

During the three months period ended December 31, 2009, the LG Mobile Communications Company reported sales of KRW 4.2 trillion (USD 3.6 billion), something that marks a 7.4 percent decrease when compared to the same period a year before. However, the phone maker also announced that its operating profit for 2009 was of KRW 55.8 billion (USD 48 million), which resulted in a margin of 1.3 percent.

The revenues in handsets for the fourth quarter of 2009 were of KRW 3.9 trillion (USD 3.3 billion), which marks a decrease of 5 percent when compared to the same quarter a year before. Shipments volume in the time frame reached 33.9 million units, registering a growth of 32 percent compared to the previous year's fourth quarter, and a 7 percent increase over the third quarter of 2009.

For the entire year 2009, the handset vendor announced unit shipments of 117.9 million, marking an increase over the 100.7 million units shipped in 2008. According to the company, the increase is the result of robust growth in North America, Europe and emerging markets. However, LG registered low profitability, mainly due to price erosion and increased marketing expenses for year-end inventory clearance and more.

When it comes to the ongoing year, the company says the following: “LG’s mobile communications business is targeting a 19 percent increase in unit sales to 140 million, focusing on the exploding smartphone category and differentiation in content and services.” Most of you might know already that the company plans a great deal of both Windows Mobile and Android phones for this year, so it has all chances to see growth.