LG said it had shipped 10.3 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2013, “the highest since it entered the smartphone race”.

The company also reported an operating profit from the handset unit of KRW133 billion ($119 million) for the period, up from KRW31 billion in the same period of 2012, on sales of KRW3.2 trillion, up 30.6 per cent from KRW2.45 trillion.

The recovering vendor had something of a mixed 2012, with two quarters of losses and two of profits.

Interestingly, the company also bucked the trend by reporting quarter-on-quarter gains – traditionally the end of the calendar year is strong for vendors, meaning Q1 fares badly in comparison.

LG said that “healthy sales of LTE smartphones such as the Optimus G and Optimus G Pro (pictured) along with 3G smartphones including the Optimus L Series and Nexus 4 contributed to the improved results”.

It also said it expects to further increase sales in the current quarter, with the worldwide rollout of the second generation of its Optimus L Series for 3G markets, and the Optimus G Pro and Optimus F Series for LTE regions.

According to Reuters, it is targeting smartphone shipments of 45 million units this year.

The South Korean player noted that while the LTE market will expand with the launch of new networks, “competition for market share gain will intensify with new model launches from competitors”.

Interestingly, the company provided little detail of its legacy feature phone activities, perhaps indicating that while its smartphone volumes are up, shrinkage in its low-end range has become faster.