LG’s Mobile Division Fails to Become Profitable in 2017

Despite the lucrative holiday season last quarter, LG’s mobile division has continued to rake in heavy losses, even as the conglomerate overall manages to remain in the black.

Last quarter, the division lost a massive $192.33 million, which is less than the $331.37 million of last quarter, over revenues of $2.77 billion. At least LG managed to reduce the losses compared to the year before, where it incurred a loss of $224 million, thanks to sales increasing thanks to the new V30 smartphone.

For the entire year of 2017, LG saw sales of 13.9 million smartphones, a slight drop of 1-percent compared to 2016. The revenue for the entire year stood at $10.52 billion.

The last time LG’s mobile division turned in a profit was in Q1 of 2017, where it unexpectedly turned in a $3.2 billion profit for the quarter, its first in more than two years. That wasn’t enough to change the unending cycle of losses however, eventually leading LG to replace its Chief of Mobile Division last quarter.

The earnings report cited “a challenging marketplace and strong competition from Chinese brands”, which surely points towards companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and others who have overtaken LG in the past few quarters.

Pushing Onwards

It has hardly deterred the company’s focus though, with continued ongoing R&D investments, including in foldable smartphones, where the company recently published its first patent.

Overall, LG’s Electronics division had a pretty respectable year in 2017, with sales of $55.4 billion throughout the year, an increase of 85% over the year before, on which it made a profit of $2.23 billion. However, the smartphone division continues to be a thorn in its entire lineup.



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