In its quarterly earnings report, LG Mobile Communications reported a 3% sales decrease in addition to a 19% revenue drop since the previous quarter. It shipped 13.5 million smartphones, a 12% decline on a yearly and quarterly basis. The company cites lower overall shipments, less interest from North American carriers, unstable economics in the Latin America and CIS markets (which negatively impacted budget device sales), and LG G5 marketing expenses as reasons for the disappointing quarter it had.
All in all, LG had to write off $168 million. While the loss is offset by LG Electronics’ $420 million operating profit, driven by its stable home appliances business, the company’s mobile business is still a blip on the landscape dominated by Apple, Samsung, and nimble Chinese vendors like Huawei and Xiaomi.
