Industry watchers say the winner will become more apparent from the third quarter on, the peak season for home electronics sales in the country. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, July 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, South Korea’s two top tech firms competing in the global market, will have to wait until next quarter to see who the winner is in the home appliances sector after their latest operating profit rates showed a tie, industry watchers said Friday.
Samsung announced 11.55 trillion won (US$10.27 billion) in second-quarter sales in its consumer electronics business with 1.3 trillion won in operating profit. It marked the first time in seven years it reached over 1 trillion won in operating revenue. The operating profit rate came to 8.9 percent.
LG’s operating gains in the sector reached 790.4 billion won, 433.7 billion in home appliances and 356.7 billion won in home electronics, which represents the firm’s TV business. The operating profit rate was Samsung-equivalent 8.9 percent.
LG is slightly ahead in total operating profit for the first and second quarter total, which amounted to 1.53 trillion won for a record-breaking 8.8 percent operating profit rate. This beats Samsung’s 6.9 percent.
Industry watchers say the winner will become more apparent from the third quarter on, the peak season for home electronics sales in the country.
Samsung officials said they will be targeting the premium TV market, aiming for at least a 49-percent increase in sales of ultra high definition TVs and a 33-percent increase for 60 inch-plus supersized models. They said the company will also go after a bigger market for refrigerators and washing machines.
Insiders at LG said the firm has succeeded with its top premium brand “Signature” and will push for bigger sales of the line’s laundry machines, water purifiers and refrigerators as well as in the business-to-business market through products such as air conditioning systems.
(Yonhap)
