SEOUL, South Korea-LG Electronics Co. Ltd. reported a drop in its companywide first-quarter sales and an 86-percent dive in its net profits compared with the same quarter a year ago. However, the company’s handset business posted some gains, mainly on its growing North American business.
LG’s mobile-phone business scored sales of $2.1 billion for the first quarter, up 15 percent from the same quarter last year but down 26 percent from the previous quarter. The company reported an operating profit of $100 million in the quarter, up 55 percent from the same quarter a year ago but 47 percent below its fourth-quarter operating profit. LG’s Mobile Communications division is the company’s largest, accounting for 36 percent of its sales in the first quarter.
LG shipped 11.1 million handsets in the first quarter, down from the 13.9 million it shipped in the fourth quarter of last year but up from the 8.75 million it shipped in the same quarter a year ago. North America accounted for more than 50 percent of LG’s handset shipments in the first quarter.
LG’s phone shipments push it firmly ahead of Sony Ericsson in terms of market share and may again put the company ahead of Siemens. LG slipped past Siemens in the fourth quarter. Siemens reports its first quarter sales April 27.
