Samsung profit tumbles 35% as chip weakness persists
- South Korea’s largest company reported a 35 per cent fall in operating income to 2.8 trillion won (US$2.1 billion), versus the 3.7 trillion won average of analysts’ estimates
- Samsung now aims to catch up with rival SK Hynix in the burgeoning field of high-density memory chips, where it plans to increase capacity by 2.5 times in 2024
Samsung Electronics posted its sixth straight quarter of declining operating profit, reflecting stubbornly weak demand for consumer electronics globally.
South Korea’s largest company reported a 35 per cent fall in operating income to 2.8 trillion won (US$2.1 billion), versus the 3.7 trillion won average of analysts’ estimates. Revenue came to 67 trillion won, compared with projections for 70.31 trillion won.
The results underscore how demand for smartphones and the memory chips that power modern electronics remains sluggish given economic uncertainty.
In December, rival Micron Technology delivered a better-than-projected revenue outlook that suggested data centre construction may make up for the lukewarm computing and mobile devices markets.
“I think this shows that the rebound is slower than we all thought,” said Tom Kang, research director at Counterpoint Technology. “Prices are not rising that fast and the demand from certain sectors is not that strong.”