Samsung Electronics has turned in an earnings report in line with its guidance, as happens every quarter. The difference this quarter, though, is that the guidance was unexpectedly bad, and so as predicted the company’s 10.8 trillion-won (~$9.7 billion) operating profit is down 29 percent year on year.
Revenue dropped 10 percent from a year earlier to 59.27 trillion won ($53.3 billion), slightly on the high end of Samsung’s provided range.
Samsung says its earnings were primarily affected by falling demand for memory chips, usually its biggest profit driver, as well as slowing smartphone shipments and increased competition for mobile displays.
The company doesn’t expect demand for memory to pick up this quarter, either, and is warning of weaker full-year performance overall with essentially flat smartphone sales.
The decline in the final quarter wasn’t enough to stop Samsung setting record financial results for the full 2018 year, however, and the company believes the upcoming flagship Galaxy S10 — the name of which is actually confirmed in this report — will help “prop up sales and business performance in the coming months.”
Foldable and 5G devices are also intended to “ensure sustainable growth” in an otherwise challenging market; with the S9 failing to sell well, Samsung needs a hit this year.
