Beer sales to rise as well, states Department of the Bleedin' Obvious

Sales of high definition televisions are set to soar as consumers snap up new equipment to watch the Fifa World Cup finals, according to LG Electronics.

"Sequential sales growth in the display business is not dramatically high due to seasonality, but sustainable growth in plasma and LCD TV sales is anticipated ahead of the World Cup," said LG in a statement.

The company made the claim in its outlook for the second quarter of 2006, following poor financial figures in the HD market. LG blamed a decline in prices for a six per cent fall in plasma and LCD TV revenue to $764m (£428m).

LG also expects its upcoming WCDMA handset to boost its presence in the mobile phone market.

"Positioning in the GSM open market in EMEA, and timely new model launches in WCDMA, will be the key to further success in the handset business," LG said.