SEOUL, South Korea-Handset maker Sony Ericsson narrowly regained the No. 5 global market share slot from rival LG Electronics Co. Ltd. in the first quarter, as LG reported shipments of 8.75 million mobile phones compared with Sony Ericsson’s 8.8 million. Asian upstart LG managed to wrest the No. 5 slot away from Sony Ericsson last year.
LG reported $5.1 billion in total sales and a strong $506 million in net profit for the quarter.
In its mobile-phones division, sales of LG handsets grew 43 percent year on year to $1.4 billion. The company said its CDMA phone exports grew 29 percent due to increased shipments to North America, while its GSM sales grew 148 percent due to increased shipments to the United States, the Middle East and Africa.
LG’s handset sales were down slightly in the first quarter to 8.75 million due to sluggish domestic shipments, according to reports. However, the company said it expects to sell 12 million mobile phones in the current quarter.
