LG Electronics breaks the high-to-low trend... Solidifying its position as the world's No.1 beyond Whirlpool

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] As LG Electronics broke the 'high start, low finish' trend last year and achieved its highest-ever performance, attention is focused on whether it will surpass Whirlpool, which once dominated the global home appliance market, and solidify its position as number one.

According to LG Electronics on the 9th, the company preliminarily reported on the 8th that it achieved annual sales of 63.2638 trillion KRW and an operating profit of 3.1918 trillion KRW last year. Both sales and operating profit are record highs, increasing by 1.5% and 31% respectively compared to 2019. Notably, this is the first time annual operating profit has exceeded 3 trillion KRW. Additionally, sales and operating profit for the fourth quarter of last year were 18.7826 trillion KRW and 647 billion KRW respectively, marking increases of 16.9% and 535.6% compared to the same period the previous year.

Despite the global market freezing as countries imposed lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pent-up demand and stay-at-home consumption surged rapidly from the first quarter, leading to a quick recovery in sales of home appliances (H&A) and TVs. In particular, premium new appliances such as stylers (clothing dryers), dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, and hygiene appliances continued to perform well. Accordingly, the industry estimates that LG Electronics' home appliance division achieved sales and operating profit of approximately 22 trillion KRW and 2.3 trillion KRW respectively over the past year.

As a result, the industry is paying close attention to whether LG Electronics can surpass Whirlpool's performance. LG Electronics' H&A business division has maintained the world's number one position in operating profit since 2017, surpassing Whirlpool, but it first topped sales in 2019. Following 2019, LG Electronics' H&A division also led Whirlpool in sales during the first and second quarters last year. However, with the revival of home appliance demand during events like Black Friday in the U.S., Whirlpool had an advantage in sales in the third and fourth quarters of 2019.

However, due to COVID-19 this year and LG Electronics securing various production bases, cumulative sales in the home appliance sector up to the third quarter of last year reached 16.7289 trillion KRW, exceeding Whirlpool's North America-focused production line by more than 500 billion KRW. Operating profit was also more than double for LG Electronics (2.053 trillion KRW) compared to Whirlpool (approximately 980 billion KRW).

Some predict that sales between LG Electronics and Whirlpool could be neck and neck. This is because the fourth-quarter sales of Whirlpool are believed to have significantly increased compared to the previous quarter due to the impact of 'Black Friday,' the largest annual shopping event in the U.S. Additionally, exchange rate effects may have favored Whirlpool's fourth-quarter performance.

Meanwhile, Whirlpool's fourth-quarter results for last year are expected to be released around mid-month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.