LG Display reports robust 3Q earnings on iPhone demand

LG Display released third quarter earnings on Wednesday that matched expectations, basking in the glory of posting its 10th straight quarterly operating profit.

Revenues in the third quarter reached 6.55 trillion won (6.23 billion U.S. dollars) and operating profit was 474.1 billion won (451 million dollars). Revenue declined by 0.5 percent year-on-year but operating profit rose by a whopping 21.8 percent. Compared to the second quarter, revenue and operating profit increased 9.5 percent and 190.7 percent, respectively.

Electronics industry sources attribute LG Display`s robust performance to increased mobile device sales by Apple, which is the Korean display maker`s main client. Apple sold 39.27 million units of iPhones in the third quarter, a yearly increase of 16.2 percent. Still another factor is robust sales of LG Electronics` high-end smartphone G3, which will soon top 10 million units to become the first LG product to reach that threshold.

In TV display panels, Korean and Chinese firms increased production of large TVs, mostly in the ultra high definition category.

A source at LG Display said, "The TV market is increasingly going high end and toward larger sizes, while our major clients are likely to increase smartphone sales further in the fourth quarter. We are anticipating for another positive quarterly report."