Quarterly profit at LG Electronics, the world’s fourth largest mobile phone maker, nearly doubled to Won 312.2 billion ($320 million) in the October-December 2005 period, compared to Won 163.4 billion a year ago. However, its full-year profit in 2005 dropped to Won 703 billion from Won 1,546 billion in the previous year. In the fourth quarter, the company sold a record 16.2 million mobile phones and its operating profit margins in the segment improved to 8.1 per cent from 5 per cent in the previous quarter, helped by strong shipments of third-generation (3G) WCDMA phones. For 2006, LG aims to sell 70 million mobile phones, up 27 per cent from 2005’s 55 million, riding on the expectation that the global mobile phone market will grow by 510 per cent to 820-860 million units going by the increased demand from emerging markets.
