ZDNet Asia Top Tech 50 LG Electronics www.lge.com

Tired of playing second fiddle to rival Korean powerhouse Samsung, LG Electronics is aiming to be among the "Global Top 3"--the world's top three electronics, information and communications brands-- by 2010.

To its credit, LG shows that it is never too late to join the join the mobile party. According to IDC, the company matched Motorola in the number of 3G handsets shipped worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2004. In addition, it overtook Siemens as the world's fourth-largest cell phone maker last year, behind Nokia, Motorola and Samsung.

However, analysts have been skeptical about its growth in the cell phone market. For example, its shipment of 12.09 million units in the second quarter of 2005 had fallen short of the company's own expectations of 13.0 million. But LG believes that it will be able to exceed its internal forecast of 60 million units for 2005.

In the market, its strategic moves to establish joint ventures with Philips and Nortel Networks have paid off handsomely. LG.Philips Displays, a joint venture with Philips, is one of the world's leading CRT and LCD panels maker. By partnering Nortel, LG hopes to jump onto the WiMax bandwagon, and is expected to release WiMax-enabled LG phones for trials by the end of 2006.

This company is listed in Systems, Networking & Communications.

Financials

Fiscal year-end	FY05	FY04	FY03	FY02	FY01
Global full-year revenue (US$millions)	—	23,542.3	16,888.1	18,602.1	16,102.0
Global full-year net income (US$millions)	—	1,475.9	554.8	388.5	492.1

Average year-on-year revenue growth over 4 years	15.2 %
Average year-on-year net income growth over 4 years	62.6 %
Percentage of revenue from Asia	—
Percentage of Asian revenues from channel	—

Operations:

Founded	—
First Asian office	—
Global employees	66,614
Employees in Asia	—
Asian countries: Total 10	China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
Notes	Data correct as at September 2005. Information was compiled by ZDNet Asia from sources such as official reports, corporate Web sites, and Hoover's. ZDNet Asia strived to get the latest information but does not guarantee the correctness or completeness of the data. The information provided on this site is for general informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy or sell any securities.

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