SEOUL, South Korea-LG Electronics Inc. said it hit record sales in the second quarter of 2004, recording $5.2 million in total sales, representing a 25.2-percent increase from last year’s second quarter. Within that, exports were up 31 percent from last year, with the United States accounting for $4 million in sales vs. $2.9 million last year.
Still, it appears the second quarter was relatively flat compared with the first quarter of 2004. LG’s sales were up just 0.5 percent from last quarter, and exports were down 1.5 percent.
However, handsets alone, which make up 31.9 percent of LG’s business, showed double-digit growth year over year and quarter over quarter. Sales of handsets stood at $1.66 million, up nearly 87 percent from a year ago and 22 percent over last quarter’s results. LG cited steady CDMA growth and “robust expansion” of GSM sales for the rise.
LG said its unit shipments grew 89 percent from last year to 9.94 million. Domestic CDMA unit sales decreased 23 percent from last quarter due to slower demand due to mobile number portability, but grew 34 percent from last year. In addition, CDMA unit sales grew 49 percent from last year in the overseas market. GSM unit growth was 262 percent above last year due to sales expansion in North America and the introduction of W-CDMA handsets.
LG predicts it will ship 11 million units in the third quarter with domestic shipments of CDMA handsets expected to be similar to the second quarter and continuing strong growth in the U.S. market. The handset maker also expects GSM growth to continue and plans to launch a new GSM phone in the second half of the year.
Overall, LG recorded net profit of $426.6 million for the second quarter, down from $505 million last quarter, but much improved from $230.6 million garnered in the year-ago period
