LG trumps Samsung on profitable appliances

LG Electronics was more profitable in home appliances in the first half of 2018 than its bigger rival Samsung Electronics, industry data showed Friday.

Samsung Electronics posted sales of 20.1 trillion won ($17.8 billion) over the January-June period in the home appliances segment, above LG Electronics’ 18.1 trillion won.

And yet the operating profit of LG was 1.9 trillion won compared to Samsung Electronics’ 790 billion won.

The data covers Samsung’s consumer electronics division, and LG Electronics’ home entertainment and home appliances-air solution division.

The operating profit-to-sales ratio came to 11 percent for LG Electronics in the first six months, far outpacing Samsung Electronics’ 3.9 percent.

Industry watchers said LG’s robust performance came as the company focused on promoting premium products that boast high profitability, such as the Styler garment care system. LG also improved its competitiveness in terms of production costs, they added.

Samsung, on the other hand, handily outpaced LG in the smartphone segment.

While the second-quarter performance at Samsung’s smartphone division did not meet expectations, LG also continued to struggle to generate more earnings.

Samsung posted an operating profit of 6.4 trillion won in the January-June period for the mobile segment, compared with LG’s loss of 321.5 billion won.

Yonhap