LG Electronics projected that global TV market demand in the third quarter this year will edge down from a year earlier. It said the impact of sports event demand being pulled forward into the second quarter, along with continued inflation and raw material cost pressures, will persist.
On a second-quarter earnings conference call on the 30th, Park Sang-ho, executive vice president and head of management for the Media & Entertainment Solutions (MS) Business Division at LG Electronics, said, "Macroeconomic volatility will expand due to factors such as the prolonged Middle East war and rising raw material prices, and consumer sentiment will remain subdued due to inflation," adding, "Because sports event demand was reflected early, we expect third-quarter TV market demand to decline slightly from a year earlier."
LG Electronics plans to maintain a profit in its TV business by improving its cost structure, boosting operational efficiency, and expanding sales of high value-added products.
Park said, "We will increase the sales mix of high value-added products such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs, QNED premium liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, and ultra-large TVs," and added, "Through growth in the webOS platform business, we will operate the business to secure profitability in the third quarter as well."
The MS Business Division of LG Electronics posted revenue of 5.1146 trillion won and operating profit of 219.4 billion won in the second quarter this year. The operating margin was 4.3%, swinging to a profit from an operating loss in the same period last year.