---
title: "LG Innotek's Apple sales hit ₩14.0 trillion in nine months, 80.4% of revenue, on a 1.5% operating margin"
description: "The November 12 filing shows the iPhone camera-module maker earning about 1.5% in its first ₩6 trillion quarter, with one customer at 80.4% of sales. The substrate business meant to fix that waits on advance payments from three unnamed North American chipmakers, while rival Samsung Electro-Mechanics has ₩5.18 trillion of AI-component deals signed or in progress."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Chips"
published: 2026-11-12T16:23:28.668Z
modified: 2026-11-12T16:23:28.668Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/lg-innotek-s-apple-sales-hit-14-0-trillion-in-nine-months-80-4-of-revenue-on-a-1-5-operating-margin
language: en
keywords: "LG Innotek, Samsung Electro Mechanics, Apple, Earnings, Camera Modules"
---

# LG Innotek's Apple sales hit ₩14.0 trillion in nine months, 80.4% of revenue, on a 1.5% operating margin

> The November 12 filing shows the iPhone camera-module maker earning about 1.5% in its first ₩6 trillion quarter, with one customer at 80.4% of sales. The substrate business meant to fix that waits on advance payments from three unnamed North American chipmakers, while rival Samsung Electro-Mechanics has ₩5.18 trillion of AI-component deals signed or in progress.

[LG Innotek](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/lg-innotek), the Korean company that builds iPhone camera modules, disclosed on November 12 that sales to its largest customer reached ₩14.0094 trillion in the first nine months of 2026, up 24.6% from ₩11.2395 trillion a year earlier [1]. [The filing names only a customer above 10% of sales](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-it/2026/11/12/Z6CEW7NNSZBN7GOQTBNPSPU43I/); Korean reporting identifies the buyer as [Apple](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/apple) [1].

The customer outgrew the company. Total sales rose 22.0% to ₩17.4292 trillion, putting one buyer at 80.4% of revenue, up from 78.7% [1]. That buyer alone nearly matches the whole optics division, which booked ₩14.5327 trillion over the same nine months [1].

## The shares have already voted

The stock closed at ₩287,500, 84% below its 52-week high of ₩1,788,000, valuing [LG Innotek](https://theinference.org/article/lg-innotek-fell-16-in-a-day-as-profit-forecasts-collapsed-its-ai-parts-rescue-starts-in-2027) at ₩6.804 trillion, or 0.29 times trailing sales [2]. The Inference covered the October profit [collapse](https://theinference.org/article/lg-innotek-fell-16-in-a-day-as-profit-forecasts-collapsed-its-ai-parts-rescue-starts-in-2027) and the [broker cuts](https://theinference.org/article/korea-s-top-1-traders-dump-lg-innotek-as-brokers-cut-its-quarter-by-half-and-blame-the-won) before it; the filing adds the concentration underneath them [2].

## The first ₩6 trillion quarter earned 1.5%

Third-quarter revenue was ₩6.3671 trillion, the company's first quarter above ₩6 trillion, up 18.6% year on year; operating profit was ₩94.8 billion, down 53.4%, which the company put down to the won-to-dollar rate falling between buying raw materials and shipping products [3]. That is about 1.5% of sales [3]. Input prices rose 13.7% for circuit-board materials and 16.8% for ICs [1].

*Chart: **LG Innotek outsold Samsung Electro-Mechanics in Q3 and made a seventh of its operating profit** Column chart comparing LG Innotek and Samsung Electro-Mechanics third-quarter revenue and operating profit in billions of won*

*July to September 2026, consolidated figures in billions of won. Sources: The Chosun Ilbo, Yonhap News Agency. [3][6][8]*

## The second engine waits on deposits

SK Securities analyst Park Hyung-woo wrote on November 12, [after the company's post-results roadshow](https://en.edaily.co.kr/news/eda202611125116/), that long-term supply agreements with three North American semiconductor companies are in final stages [4]. The size and timing of their advance payments "could determine future investment resources", he wrote, and capex through 2028 is modeled on customer support [4].

## Samsung Electro-Mechanics already has the deals

[Samsung Electro-Mechanics](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/samsung-electro-mechanics), the [Samsung Electronics](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/samsung) components affiliate already shipping AI-server parts, has disclosed [eight long-term supply deals this year](https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/general/samsung-electro-mechanics-ai-contracts-surpass-5-trillion-won/ar-AA2gokCf), on MLCC capacitors, inductors and substrates, worth about ₩5.18 trillion in total, and plans to invest ₩6.78 trillion in flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrate plants, the large boards that carry AI processors, in Sejong and Vietnam [5][6][7]. LG Innotek's 2030 target is ₩4 trillion of substrate revenue and ₩1 trillion of operating profit, from a division that sold ₩481.8 billion last quarter; it has disclosed no deal and no deposit [3][4].

*Chart: **Samsung Electro-Mechanics has disclosed ₩5.18 trillion of AI supply deals this year; LG Innotek has disclosed none** Bar chart comparing Samsung Electro-Mechanics' eight disclosed 2026 long-term supply deals and its largest single deal with LG Innotek's disclosed substrate deals, in trillion won*

*Value of long-term supply deals each company disclosed in 2026, in trillion won. Samsung Electro-Mechanics' eight deals, signed or in progress, cover MLCCs, silicon capacitors, inductors and FC-BGA substrates; LG Innotek's three substrate agreements are in final-stage talks with no value disclosed. Sources: Maeil Business, The Chosun Ilbo, Edaily. [5][6][4]*

## The buy case arrives with its own warning

Park's case: orders from major clients show no change, camera module prices rose as expected, upgrades should run five years, and the negatives "have already been priced in"; a price down 81% from its peak "presents a good opportunity to consider buying" [4]. The same note carries the demand risk: rivals of the big clients already ship 5–30% fewer units a quarter, and planned production increases above 5% next year look hard to sustain as finished-product prices rise [4].

## The first advance payment is the tell

A signature alone would not fund a plant; the first disclosed advance payment from any of the three chipmakers would. The next scheduled reading is fourth-quarter earnings on January 25, 2027 [2].

## Takeaway

Apple supplied 80.4% of LG Innotek's nine-month revenue, and the company made about 1.5% operating margin in its first ₩6 trillion quarter. The substrate business meant to fix that has disclosed no deal and no deposit, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics has ₩5.18 trillion of AI-component contracts signed or in progress.

## Sources

1. [ChosunBiz, "LG Innotek Apple sales rise 25% to 14 trillion won over three quarters", 12 November 2026](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-it/2026/11/12/Z6CEW7NNSZBN7GOQTBNPSPU43I/)
2. [Yahoo Finance UK, "LG Innotek Co., Ltd. (011070.KS) stock price, news, quote and history", 12 November 2026](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/quote/011070.KS/)
3. [The Chosun Ilbo (via MSN), "LG Innotek surpasses 6 trillion revenue, operating profit plummets", 27 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/other/lg-innotek-posts-record-sales-profit-drops-53-4/ar-AA2g9b98)
4. [Edaily, "LG Innotek Benefits from Camera Technology Advancements Amid a Booming Circuit Board Market... Stock Price Nears Low Point", 12 November 2026](https://en.edaily.co.kr/news/eda202611125116/)
5. [Maeil Business Newspaper, "Samsung Electro-Mechanics signs 880 billion won AI server MLCC supply contract", 30 October 2026](https://www.mk.co.kr/en/business/12191542)
6. [The Chosun Ilbo (via MSN), "Samsung Electro-Mechanics AI contracts surpass 5 trillion won", 30 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-xl/money/general/samsung-electro-mechanics-ai-contracts-surpass-5-trillion-won/ar-AA2gokCf)
7. [RPRNA, "Samsung Electro-Mechanics Expands AI Component Output as LG Innotek Waits on Customer Commitments", 9 November 2026](https://www.rprna.com/samsung-electro-mechanics-expands-ai-component-output-as-lg-innotek-waits-on-customer-commitments/)
8. [Yonhap News Agency, "(LEAD) Samsung Electro-Mechanics logs record profit in Q3 on AI boom", 28 October 2026](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20261028006051320)


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LG Innotek's Apple sales hit ₩14.0 trillion in nine months, 80.4% of revenue, on a 1.5% operating margin — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/lg-innotek-s-apple-sales-hit-14-0-trillion-in-nine-months-80-4-of-revenue-on-a-1-5-operating-margin