According to a Bloomberg report on January 8, due to a series of factors such as smartphone sales and weak memory chip prices, Samsung Electronics' fourth-quarter profit was lower than analysts expected.
Samsung’s preliminary results announced on Friday showed that in the three months ending in December, operating income was 9 trillion won (approximately US$8.3 billion), and analysts’ average expectation was 9.52 trillion won. Sales in the fourth quarter were 61 trillion won (approximately US$55.7 billion). The company did not provide net income and specific departmental performance. The company expects to release its final 2020 annual financial report later this month.
At present, the global competition for 5G mobile phones between Apple and Samsung has entered a fierce stage. According to Strategy Analytics estimates, Samsung has sold 41 million 5G mobile phones in the past year, lagging behind Apple’s 52 million and Huawei’s 80 million. Most of the two are sold in China.
Samsung plans to hold an online event on January 14 to launch its next flagship mobile phone series, the Galaxy S21, earlier than the usual annual schedule. Competitors such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo are all actively deploying to fill the gap that Huawei may leave in the international market.
C.W. Chung, head of Asian technology at Nomura Financial Investment, said that factors such as slowing server demand, falling memory chip prices, and the appreciation of the Korean won against the US dollar have affected Samsung’s earnings in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020. Chung said before the release of the financial report: "The company's mobile phone and memory business will begin to recover from the first quarter of 2021. The memory market has a clear upward trend and may continue until the end of 2021."