LG Electronics was a late incumbent into the smartphone arena, when they finally arrived on the scene in 2010. Since then the Korean manufacturer has witnessed steady growth in their smartphone device sales. In the fiscal 2011-2012, LG had shipped an estimated 20 million to 26 million smartphone devices. The number of shipments more than doubled in 2013, when LG shipped close to 47.6 million smartphones, specifically in their ‘G’ brand. A large majority of this growth was spurred by the fact that Google had chosen LG as a partner to showcase Android on their Nexus range of devices, especially the LG made Google Nexus 4 and the next iteration – the LG made Google Nexus 5.
For this fiscal, LG is riding high on the success of its latest flagship device – the LG G3 – which has garnered spectacular reviews from users and critics. The strong sales of the LG G3 have prompted two Korean analyst organizations to release their estimated for LG’s sales for this year. Kiwoom Securities and Korea Investment, are two top local brokerages, who have estimated the sales of LG branded smartphones to cross the 60 million mark for this year, whereas Daewoo Securities estimates the Korean manufacturer would ship close to 62 million devices this year. Korea Investment and Securities in their statement have said that, “Impressed by the continued stronger sale of G3 phones, we are quite confident that LG will ship over 60 million units this year,” whereas Kiwoom Securities sent a note to their clients expecting that the “[LG] G3 will continue to gain ground in the smartphone industry.”
Not one to let the wave of success go buy, LG has announced that the company would launch promotional campaigns for the LG G3 across China and the US, which LG considers as ‘target markets’. The Korean manufacturer is also in talks with China Mobile and China Telecom, China’s top carriers, for purchases of the LG G3, with the help of LG’s marketing budget. Korea Times quotes an LG Electronics official as stating, “There is no innovation in handsets. Apple is set to unveil two larger-screen smartphones soon. LG should be quick to appeal to existing and new customers before the debuts of new Apple phone(s).” If you own a LG G3, do you think the handset is worth the hype and whether LG will manage to actually reach this 60 million sales figure? Do let us know in the comments below.