April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics profited more for every home appliance sold in the first half of 2018 compared with its bigger rival Samsung Electronics, industry data showed on Aug. 3.

Samsung posted sales of 20.1 trillion won (US$17.80 billion) over the January-June period for the home appliances segment, above LG’s 18.1 trillion won.

The operating profit of Samsung and LG, on the other hand, came to 790 billion won and 1.9 trillion won, respectively, over the period.

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

The operating profit-to-sales ratio came to 11 percent for LG in the first six months of 2018 for the industry, far outpacing Samsung’s 3.9 percent posted over the same period.

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

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)