LG Electronics profit plunges on handset loss

LG Electronics said on Wednesday that it did not expect a turnaround in its phone business until the fourth quarter at the earliest, as the world’s No. 3 handset maker struggles to compete with the likes of Apple and the Research In Motion in the smartphone market. 

The Korean company reported its first loss in its handset business for four years, hit by a lack of competitive smartphone models. 



“With the launch of new models at the end of the third quarter, we hope to turn around our handset business in the fourth quarter,” Jung Do-hyun, chief financial officer of LG Electronics, told reporters on the sidelines of an investor meeting in Seoul. 

However, some analysts expected LG’s handset unit to remain in the red by the end of this year, as the company faces intensifying competition in fast-growing smartphone segment.