Relative Assessment
Samsung Electronics Co. saw its sales significantly increase throughout the world last year, while LG Electronics Inc. showed a rapid growth in South Korea.
According to electronics industry sources on March 13, Samsung Electronics recorded a historic high of 239.58 trillion won (US$224.95 billion) in sales last year and 34 percent of them, or 81.02 trillion won (US$76.07 billion), came from the Americas, the biggest battlefield of premium products. For Samsung Electronics, the Americas were also the biggest market a year earlier with sales of 68.73 trillion won (US$64.53 billion). The company added more than 12 trillion won (US$11.27 billion) of sales last year. Samsung Electronics sells most of its premium home appliances, cell phones and semiconductors in the Americas.
Samsung Electronics showed the second biggest growth in South Korea. The company’s sales in South Korea rose a whopping 11 trillion won (US$10.33 billion), or 56 percent, from 20.2 trillion won (US$18.97 billion) in 2016 to 31.55 trillion won (US$29.62 billion) in 2017.
Samsung Electronics also saw its sales evenly increase about 3 trillion to 6 trillion won (US$2.82 billion to 5.63 billion) not only in traditional markets, like Europe, but also emerging markets, such as Asia, Africa and China. The company recorded the second highest sales in Europe with 44.42 trillion won (US$41.71 billion) after the Americas. Its figures in Asia and Africa and China came to 44.25 trillion won (US$41.55 billion) and 38.34 trillion won (US$36 billion), respectively, expecting to surpass the European market soon.
LG Electronics posted high sales in most regions but showed a dramatic growth in South Korea. The company had sales of 61.4 trillion won (US$5.76 billion) last year. A third of the entire sales came from South Korea at 20.26 trillion won (US$19.02 billion). It sold 39 percent, or 5.67 trillion won (US$5.32 billion), more of products in South Korea compared to a year earlier, boosting sales last year.
LG Electronics also showed the highest sales in the Americas, just like Samsung Electronics. The company posted a total of 20.96 trillion won (US$19.69 billion) in the Americas, including 16.54 trillion won (US$15.53 billion) in North America and 4.42 trillion won (US$4.15 billion) in Central and South America. The two companies’ premium strategy to differentiate themselves from Chinese low-end products from years ago worked well, according to market watchers.
LG Electronics had the highest sales in Asia with 6.52 trillion won (US$6.13 billion) last year, following Europe with 6.3 trillion won (US$5.92 billion), Middle East and Africa with 3.12 trillion won (US$2.93 billion), China with 2.55 trillion won (US$2.39 billion) and others with 1.68 trillion won (US$1.58 billion).