LG looking to smartphone to make inroads into U.S. market: CEO

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- LG Electronics Inc. is investing heavily in
smartphones and seeking to forge an alliance with a U.S. mobile carrier to make
inroads into a market dominated by Blackberry and Apple Inc.'s iPhone, the South
Korean company's CEO said here Tuesday.

"We are investing heavily in smartphone," Nam Yong told a forum at the Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Nam also told reporters after the speech that LG Electronics, the world's third
largest cell phone maker after Nokia and Samsung: "I think Verizon, AT&T or any
other mobile carriers will consider forging a business alliance with us if we can
provide a similar solution to Apple's operating system."
Apple currently dominates the smartphone operating system market in the U.S.,
controlling more than 50 percent compared with Microsoft's 4 percent, according
to industry sources.
"We understand it is not an easy task, but LG, like Samsung, has its own
potential energy," Nam said.
His remarks came after South Korean authorities recently lifted regulations
requiring mobile Internet phones to use the home-grown "WIPI" operating system
and lowered rates, opening the door to foreign competition in the Korean handset
market.
In addition to seeking new software solutions, LG is also focusing on green
energy and health care, Nam said. That includes providing lighting and energy
control, television security, laundry and storage solutions to hotels and other
businesses that will draw in steady commission.
Nam said those efforts were "the outcome of about 170 projects undertaken by 20
percent of the surplus manpower we did not lay off during the recession."
Retaining staff and investing heavily during the recession has paid off for LG
Electronics, he added, as the global market share of its products has risen by
3-7 percentage points from last year.
LG television sets grabbed 13 percent of the global market this year from 6
percent last year and the company's refrigerator market share rose to 20 percent
from 7 percent last year, he said.
Nam credited LG's maneuvers before and during the recession for the success.
The company conducted intensive market surveys ahead of the outbreak of the worst
economic crisis in September last year and set aside funds for hefty investment
in research and development while American and Japanese competitors were busy
downsizing, Nam said.
"I believe the recession (was) a good chance for us to make a leap," Nam said. In
normal economic conditions, it would have been very difficult for LG to increase
its market share by even 1 percent market share, he added.
LG Electronics registered a net profit of 807.2 billion won (US$685 million) in
the third quarter ending in September, up from the 24.9 billion won profit a year
earlier,
Sales on a global basis rose 16 percent on year to 13.9 trillion won while
operating profit climbed 49 percent to 850.2 billion won.
The company attributed the spike in earnings to record high quarterly sales of
its mobile phones and LCD TVs, due mainly to increased demand from Europe and
emerging markets. The number of mobile phones sold in the third quarter surpassed
the 30 million-mark for the first time ever while four million LCD TVs were
shipped globally.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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