LG's struggling mobile division lost over $850 million in 2019

LG G8
LG G8 (Image credit: Android Central)

What you need to know

  • LG's smartphone business recorded revenues of KRW 1.32 trillion ($1.12 billion) in Q4 2019, mainly due to lower sales of the company's mass-tier products.
  • The smartphone division posted a full-year operating loss of KRW 1.01 trillion ($858.34 million).
  • LG Electronics registered revenues of KRW 16.06 trillion ($13.65 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2019, 1.8% higher than the same period in 2018.

LG today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2019. Thanks to robust demand for premium home appliances such as LG Signature, the company posted record-breaking revenues of KRW 62.3 trillion ($53 billion) in 2019. Its full-year operating profit, however, came in at KRW 2.44 trillion ($2.07 billion), 10% lower than 2018.

The company's fourth quarter revenue of KRW 16.06 trillion ($13.56 billion) was 1.8 percent higher than the same period in 2018 and also 2.3% higher compared to the previous quarter. Quarterly operating income, on the other hand, was 34.5% higher than Q4 2018 at KRW 101.8 billion ($86.5 million).

Unsurprisingly, LG's smartphone division didn't fare too well in the fourth quarter of last year. LG Mobile Communications recorded revenues of KRW 1.32 trillion ($1.12 billion) during the October to December period, a decline compared to the same period a year earlier. The mobile division posted a full-year operating loss of KRW 1.01 trillion ($858.34 million), apparently due to higher marketing expenses for flagship devices. Despite the fact that its mobile business isn't doing well, LG isn't ready to give up on smartphones just yet. In 2020, the company plans to continue its cost-efficiency efforts and introduce new mid to premium 5G phones to boost sales.

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Babu Mohan
News Writer
3 Comments
  • It really is to bad because lg makes a good phone. I bought the V30 when launched so that I wouldn't have to carry a separate dap around to play my high res files. It turned out to be a great device all around. Beautiful screen, great camera, excellent battery life, and more. I'm only making it my backup phone now for the latest internals. I went with the ZTE axon 10 pro. Outstanding phone for 499.00. On tmobile so it does have band 71.
  • When they pull stunts like they did with the Stylo 4 and 5 I could see why
  • Updates, updates, updates....