Record sales push LG to world’s No.3 spot

A recent Reuters report stated that LG Electronics Inc of Korea has emerged as the world’s No.3 smartphone maker in the US $ 223 billion market, spurred on by record sales of high-end models of the LG Optimus series.

LG’s smartphone market share rose to 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter with sales soaring to unprecedented heights to become No.3 in the smartphone market ahead of rivals HTC Corp, Sony and Blackberry.

The boosts in sales of LG smartphones have pushed LG Electronics shares up by 54 percent to recover from its 2012 low in July. The shares ended trading at 2 percent up on Thursday at 86,600 won, which is the highest price traded for more than a year.

LG’s high-end models of the Optimus series have made huge inroads to capture world markets because of their powerful and innovative hardware and software features and an exceptionally fast 4G connection. LG is optimistic that the trend in booming sales will also help to increase sales of their lower-end segment as well.

LG has already announced that software upgrades for its flagship Optimus G Pro model will allow users to access features that Samsung touted as major selling points of its upcoming Galaxy S4. The move is the latest attempt to boost appeal to upmarket consumers before rival products hit the market.

The features that LG will be introducing include Motion Detecting Technology that stops and starts videos depending on whether someone is looking at the screen and snapping pictures.

The five-inch Optimus Pro was launched in South Korea in late February and in Japan earlier this month. It is LG’s fastest selling smartphone with record sales hitting 500,000 units in the first 40 days of the launch. Analysts predict that LG’s smartphone shipments will rise by 16 percent to a record 10 million units after 8.6 million phones have already been sold in the fourth quarter. This is believed to be a strong performance, judging by the overall mar- ket dropping by 6 percent from the strong year-end holiday quarter. LG’s first quarter results are expected to be out on April 24.

A spokesperson for Abans, the agents for LG mobile phones in Sri Lanka, said that his company was proud and happy to learn that LG had emerged amongst the top three smartphone makers in the world, close behind mobile phone giants such as Apple.

LG Optimus series was very popular and fast selling in Sri Lanka because consumers today look for genuine phones packed with high-end features and a reliable aftersales service and availability of spare parts which Abans was able to offer its customers, he added.