The operating profit gap between the two firms' comparable home appliance, television and air-conditioning operations came to about 990 billion won in the first quarter and 1.15 trillion won in the second, industry data showed Sunday, even as their combined revenue in those segments ran at broadly similar levels.
LG's home appliance, TV and eco-solution divisions together booked 14.92 trillion won in second-quarter revenue and 1.14 trillion won in operating profit, holding above the trillion-won mark after a similar showing in the prior quarter.
Samsung's television and appliance operations, by contrast, swung to a 10 billion won operating loss from a 200 billion won profit, despite revenue edging up to about 14.5 trillion won.
Both companies faced the same headwinds of softening consumer demand, heavier logistics costs and rising memory-chip prices, but analysts said differences in business structure drove the split.
The gap was seen widest in home appliances, a fixed-cost-heavy manufacturing business where factory utilization and cost competitiveness swing profitability sharply when demand weakens.
The two firms struck contrasting tones on their July 30 earnings calls.
Samsung said premium and AI product sales lifted revenue but rising component costs eroded margins, while LG credited expanded appliance and premium TV sales, a richer high-value-added product mix, cost improvements and one-off tariff refunds for its gains.
LG's second-quarter business-to-business revenue rose 5 percent from a year earlier to 6.5 trillion won and subscription revenue climbed 5 percent to 660 billion won, while its AI data center cooling business drew orders topping 600 billion won in the first half, underscoring the portfolio shift that has separated the two rivals' fortunes.
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