LG Electronics Sells Record No. Of Mobile Phones In Oct

Asia Pulse - LG Electronics Inc. (KSE:066570), the world's sixth-largest handset maker, said Monday it sold a record number of handsets in October thanks to rising shipments of high-speed mobile phones.

In a statement to the Korea Stock Exchange, LG Electronics said it sold 5.08 million phones last month, up 26.9 per cent from September and 67.5 per cent from a year ago.

LG Electronics, a latecomer in overcrowded worldwide cell phone market, is gaining a market share with its camera-equipped third-generation (3G) phones, which allow faster data transmission. The Korean company predicted handset sales to jump 57 per cent this year to 43 million units.

LG Electronics, also one of the world's top makers of consumer electronics such as air conditioners and televisions, posted 2.3 trillion won (US$2.1 billion) in overall October sales, up 15.1 percent from September.

The revenue from its telecoms division, which comes mostly from cell phones, grew 21 per cent from a month earlier to 997 billion won.

LG Electronics said revenue from its display division, which makes flat-panel televisions and monitors with liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma display panel (PDP), rose 12.9 percent from a month ago to 842.9 billion won.