LG’s mobile division reports another loss making quarter, revenue down 23%

LG has reported another tough quarter for its mobile division, with revenues for the unit coming in at KRW 2.5 trillion ($2.3BN) in its Q3 2016, 23 per cent lower than in the same quarter in 2015, and a quarterly operating loss of RW 436.4 billion ($389.4M).

In its Q2 in July it also reported revenues down year on year, and an operating loss of KRW 153.5 billion ($132.10M).

The South Korean electronics firm blamed lower sales of premium devices and “expenses related to business structure improvement activities” as contributory factors to its Q3 results.

LG shipped 13.5M smartphones overall in the quarter, with some uplift in North America where it reported a 14 per cent increase in sales from Q2.

It says its priorities for the final quarter of the year will include increasing sales of its LG V20 smartphone, as well as putting some wood behind its “mass-tier” K and X series devices.

It also intends to finalize business structural improvements in the mobile division to — in its words — “be better prepared for the challenges ahead”.

LG announced a restructuring of its mobile division this summer, after disappointing sales of its modular G5 handset.

Unveiled with much fanfare at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in February, the G5 smartphone with the swappable chin nonetheless roundly failed to excite consumers. The LG V20 is a more ‘back to basics’ device, with no modular elements — just a big screen, dual rear cameras and what we dubbed “an unremarkable design”.