To start the year off , LG’s handset division reached sales of 3.346 billion in the first quarter of 2008.  This is a 35.7% increase from a year ago and the credit goes directly to the big 3: LG Viewty, LG Voyager and LG Venus.  The biggest change in 2008 was an increase in handset shipments to emerging markets such as Asia, China and Middle East regions which increased by 36%.  Also helping in the first quarter success was the WCDMA sales in the US and Korea which increased by 18% from a year ago.

The operating profit margin improved to 13.9% in the handset division thanks to growth in LG’s premium model handsets and the outlook for the remainder of 2008 continues to be bright.  With the mysterious third model in the “Black Label” series awaiting a launch date and the LG Vu just surfacing with AT&T and Rogers Wireless, North America will be seeing plenty of LG handsets flying off retailers’ shelves (let’s not forget the rumored GSM AT&T LG Voyager as well as the CDMA Sprint LG Voyager that are in the works).

Read the full Press Release over at LG Electronics