Samsung zips past LG in India market after over 10 years

NEW DELHI, May 25 (Economic Times): Samsung has overtaken arch rival LG in India after more than a decade of pitched battle to become a bigger player in the Rs 1,10,000-crore Indian consumer electronics and mobile handset market, thanks to its booming mobile handset business . Data disclosed by the two firms to the Registrar of Companies (RoC) for 2009-10 show that Samsung has, for the first time, outgrown LG in the country, both in revenues and profit. Samsung India reported net sales of Rs 11,663 crore and net profit of Rs 402 crore for the year ended March 2010, against LG India's Rs 10,691-crore net sales and Rs 347-crore net profit. Numbers for the year ended March '11 will be disclosed to RoC after a few months. Industry insiders say the pecking order is unlikely to swing back in favour of LG anytime soon. This is because LG is nowhere near Samsung in the Rs 75,000-crore mobile handset market, which is more than double the size of all consumer electronics and appliances put together.