LG has made plans to increase its sales ten-fold in the new year. According to The Korea Times, the company plans to sell 75 million handsets this year, 45 million of which will be smartphones. The news hits after numerous reports that the company has been behind on shipments of its Nexus 4 handset, which LG insists is not true.
LG also mentioned it plans on making this number by getting into the Windows Phone 8 game. "We will release quite a number of new Optimus devices this year, and LG also has some new smartphones in the works that will run Microsoft's Windows Phone 8," a senior executive from one of LG's partners told The Korea Times. The executive added this year "won't be as bullish for LG as last year" and that the Nexus 4 and Optimus G have helped the company make great strides in impressing major carriers. The devices also show consumers that LG is capable of producing high quality, fast performing mobile devices. The budget line of Optimus smartphones has also received plenty of attention. "We are confident to get our phone business on a rising track this year," said the executive.
Last year, LG shipped about 41 million handsets, though these numbers do not include fourth quarter results. The company has been struggling to make a profit since 2011, but its sales went up nine percent in the third quarter of 2012. Seventy percent of that revenue came from smartphone sales, which can be attributed to the major demand for LTE-capable handsets. Still, LG only holds about 3.3 percent of global market share, according to Gartner's numbers.
It's purported LG also pushed out about 15 million units between October and December, which would lend credence to the fact that its new smartphones have done wonders for the company image. LG will announce its official fourth quarter earnings on January 30 and you can check back for then for our official analysis.
