LG profit down 80% as smartphone sales continue to decline in Q4 2018

LG Electronics has reported revenues of 15.77 trillion won (US$ 13.99 billion) for the fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2018, which is down 7% compared to the same quarter last year, as expected. It posted profits of 75.7 bilion won (US$ 67.1 million), down 79.3% YoY, while net profit was down 80.7 billion won from 182.8 billion won a year earlier. Decrease in profits is due to primarily due to lower sales of mobile products, said LG. For the whole of 2018 it reported 61.3 trillion won (US$ 54.4 billion) revenue, same as 2017. Full-year profit of 2.70 trillion won (US$ 2.40 billion) is up 9.5% compared to 2017 with record profitability from appliances and home entertainment products. Mobile Communications sector reported a quarterly revenue of 1.71 trillion won (US$ 1.51 billion), down 16.1% QoQ and 41.4% YoY due to sluggish smartphone market and intensifying competition in mass-tier products. The Mobile sector posted a operating loss of 322.3 billion won (US$ 289.6 million), compared to loss of 216.3 billion won a year ago and 146.3 billion won loss it posted in Q3 2018. Full-year operating loss increased to 790.1 billion won (US$ 700.65 million). LG said that the loss in mobile sector widened as marketing ...