Amid consumers’ reluctance to buy, electronics giant Samsung has posted its sixth straight quarter of decline in operating profit. Profit from ordinary operations fell 35 percent year-on-year to 2.8 trillion won (1.9 billion euros) in the fourth quarter of 2023, the South Korean group said in a stock exchange announcement.
The figures are therefore provisional. Samsung Electronics is the market leader in smartphones and memory chips. The figures for the months October to December were below market expectations, according to a study by the financial data service of the national news agency Yonhap. Analysts expected operating losses at Samsung’s semiconductor division to reach 2 trillion won last year, the report said.
Samsung expects revenue for the final quarter to drop 4.9 percent to 67 trillion won. The company traditionally only presents more precise figures at a later date.
The oversupply in the chip industry has been a problem for Samsung for some time. Moreover, high inflation had dampened consumer confidence, which was also felt by semiconductor manufacturers. Against this backdrop, Samsung had cut production. However, the South Koreans recently assumed that the bottom had been reached for memory chips.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
