Robust Ultra HD Shipments Push LG, Samsung CE Sectors to Profitable Q2

LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics each reported a profitable second quarter for their CE sectors Thursday, partly on robust shipments of higher-margin Ultra HD televisions. Q2 home entertainment revenue at LG jumped 6 percent year over year to $3.7 billion ($1 = 1,126 Korean won), the company said in a report. The sector swung to a $317 million operating profit from a year-earlier loss, it said. TV shipments fell sequentially from Q1 in the Middle East and Eastern Europe but increased in North America and Latin America, where “the revenue portion and shipments of premium TVs are continuously growing” it said. For Q3, “overall TV demand would remain sluggish,” but demand for TVs in the premium tier, including OLED TVs and Ultra HD sets, “will continuously move up,” it said. In Samsung’s report, Q2 revenue in the company CE sector jumped 3 percent from a year earlier to $10.3 billion, and operating profit doubled to $915 million, the company said. Samsung shipped 49 percent more Ultra HDs globally in Q2 than a year earlier, including a 33 percent increase in sets larger than 60 inches, it said. Samsung’s second-half outlook for the CE sector includes a plan to “strengthen marketing activity” for SUHD TVs with quantum-dot technology, it said.