Too many flat panels cause LG Philips loss

A FALL in average selling prices of flat panels caused the LG Philips joint venture to turn in a net loss for its second quarter.

And the outlook is also dim for its third quarter the firm said.

In its second quarter, LG Philips made an operating loss of W372 billion, compared to a profit in the same quarter last year of W29 billion.

CEO Bon Joon Koo said the firm's profits were hit by industry wide pricing weakness.

The firm's business in the second quarter this year was made up of LCD panels for TVs (48%), desktop monitors (26%), notebook screens (21%) and other apps (5%).

Chief financial officer Ron Wirahadiraksa said the industry has started to take "a more rational approach to capacity". It is "temporising" production because of too much stock. It will attempt to further control stock in the future. µ