LG hits 5 million LTE smartphones sold
As 4G wireless service catches on, the South Korean handset maker says it sold 1 million LTE phones in July alone.
As deployment of 4G LTE networks increases, LG Electronics is reaping the benefits.
The South Korean handset maker announced this evening that it had sold 5 million LTE smartphones worldwide, with 1 million of the handsets sold in July alone.
The Optimus LTE -- dubbed the world's first HD LTE smartphone by LG -- was the most popular LG LTE smartphone with 2 million units sold. Also contributing to the success was the Optimus Vu, which sold more than 500,000 units since March.
The company said that more than 10 LG LTE smartphones are available in countries where LTE service is a reality, including the U.S., Japan, and select markets in Europe and Asia.
Executives at the South Korean electronics giant expect its growth rate to continue to increase.
"Sales of global LTE smartphones are expected to increase ten-fold this year from last year," Jong-seok Park, CEO of LG Mobile Communications, said in a statement. "With that in mind, we are planning to introduce an even more impressive LTE lineup in the next several months second to none."
According to recent numbers from Gartner, LG was No. 5 in total smartphone sales, grabbing 3.4 percent market share in the second quarter of 2012, down from the 5.7 percent it held in the second of 2011.