Jan 26 South Korea’s LG Display Co Ltd said its fourth-quarter operating profit slid 90 percent from a year earlier, missing market expectations, as weak demand for consumer electronics weighs on panel prices. As a result of sluggish global market demand for TVs and softer growth of smartphone market during 2015, full-year revenues were KRW 56.51 trillion (USD 48.8 billion), compared with KRW 59.04 trillion (USD 50.98 billion) the previous year.
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LG shipped 15.3 million LG smartphones in the fourth quarter contributing to 59.7 million units in 2015 against 59.1 million in 2014. However, based on the reactions at CES earlier this month, LG said it believes this year is ripe for wider acceptance of OLED and 4K Ultra HD TVs.
While LG declined to comment on details of the new flagship model, the company said the production cost is expected to increase in line with improved features, but it will try to maintain the price from its predecessor by cutting costs in other areas. The company plans to step up its marketing for TVs, including its first Super Bowl commercial developed by the director Ridley Scott.
The Mobile sector reported revenue (Q4 2015) of 3.78 trillion won ($3.26 billion), which is a 12% increase compared to Q3 2015, and their year-on-year revenue remains unchanged, they basically earned as much as they did last year. The company’s high-end washing machines and refrigerators were popular in South Korea, also helping to limit its losses.
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The electronic IT and materials business earned 2.76 trillion won, down 1.7 percent on-year, with its operating profit sitting at 146 billion won, up 8.9 percent from a year earlier. Sales edged down 4.3 percent to 56.5 trillion won, while its operating profit plunged 34.8 percent to 1.19 trillion won. Amounts in Korean won (KRW) are translated into US dollars (USD) at the average rate of the three-month period of the corresponding quarter – KRW 1,158 per USD (2015 4Q).
