LG

As Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (005930) continued to divvy up just about all of the smartphone industry’s earnings last year, one other global vendor managed to step up and eke out a profit. LG’s (066570) smartphone business has inched up into the black thanks to gorgeous smartphones like the Optimus G, and the company confirmed on Sunday that it has now sold 10 million cumulative LTE-equipped smartphones globally. ”Aggressive pushing forward with 4G LTE technology allows LG to satisfy the needs of consumers and is a huge factor in our growing success in global LTE smartphone sales,” said LG Mobile boss Dr. Jong-seok Park. “Having established ourselves as a major industry player, we will continue to expand our footprint in the global LTE market with a wider range of differentiated, high quality LTE smartphones.” LG’s full press release follows below. More →

LG Display (LPL) on Monday announced plans to make additional investments into the production of its organic light emitting diode display panels, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company will invest 706 billion won, or $656.7 million, to expand manufacturing lines at its Paju plant, which will produce “mother glasses” that are big enough for the OLED panels in its 55-inch television screens. OLED technology offers improved picture quality and deeper color saturation compared to traditional LCD displays, and is seen as the future of high-definition televisions. LG is hoping that its latest investment will give it an edge over Samsung’s (005930) OLED ambitions. Mass production is scheduled to begin at the Paju plant in the first half of 2014.