South Korea’s LG Electronics – the world’s third-largest handset vendor – today reported a 6 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in handset shipments, shipping 31.6 million units in the July to September period. This was equal to a 37 percent year-on-year growth rate, and was, the company stated, “due to robust growth in emerging and European markets, thanks to products such as Cookie and messaging phones, despite a slight decline in unit sales in North America and Korea.” Handset sales accounted for KRW4.38 trillion (US$3.53 billion) of the mobile division’s KRW4.65 trillion of total revenue. Price erosion of handsets, along with increased sales of low-end handsets, resulted in lower profitability compared to the second quarter, however. Operating profit for the handset unit reached KRW384 billion, whilst operating profit for the entire mobile division was KRW390 billion. The company warned that, for the fourth quarter, “price erosion in the TV and handset business and an increase in marketing/R&D investment will likely result in lower profitability quarter-over-quarter.”

As well as mobile, LG Electronics also has a home entertainment division, a home appliance unit, air conditioning division and business solutions group. As a whole, LG claimed record sales and operating profits in the third quarter. Sales on a global basis (including LG’s overseas subsidiaries) soared 15.7 percent to KRW13.9 trillion (US$11.2 billion) year-over-year. Operating profit was up to KRW850 billion (US$685 million), resulting in a margin of 6.1 percent, 1.3 percent point higher than the third quarter last year. On a parent basis, the company recorded sales of KRW7.87 trillion (US$6.34 billion) and an operating profit of KRW603 billion (US$486 million).