LG makes less than $0.02 for every smartphone it sells

Profits are profits, but in order for a quarter to be considered successful you need far more than just a profit, you need growth. With a 7.6% decline in year-on-year revenue and just $222.25 million in profits from $12.69 billion in revenue, LG’s last quarter was far from successful. What’s most interesting, and kind of amusing, about the company’s Q2 2015 results, however, is the fact that LG only makes $0.012 for every smartphone it sells. 

LG didn’t lose any money in Q2 2015, but no one’s exactly breaking out the champagne for the result they mustered up. The company pulled in 12.69 billion across all its businesses last quarter, which is a 7.6% decline year-on-year but close to the same compared to what they did the previous quarter. The company made just $222.25 million on all that revenue. While the mobile division wasn’t the biggest to blame — TV revenue was down over 22% quarter-over-quarter thanks to waning interest in LCD — it still wasn’t great. The company shipped 8.1 million smartphones and grew 1% in revenue overall. They achieved their goal of establishing a bigger presence in North America by increasing revenues by as much as 36%, largely thanks to the performance of the mid-range market. It’s the high-end segment that the company struggled with. The iPhone isn’t leaving much room for many competitors, LG included, and it caused the South Korean company to make just 1.2 cents (US Dollar) for every phone sold. That’s literally pocket change in their world, so you can see why they’d be a bit upset.