Samsung head office in Korea/Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Tech giant strives to rebound in second half

After chalking up disappointing performances in the first quarter, Samsung Electronics is not likely to rebound in the coming months. It remains to be seen whether it will be able to achieve its goal of rebounding later in 2019.

The high-tech giant announced April 30 that its first-quarter revenue and operating profit amounted to 52.4 trillion won ($45.19 billion) and 6.2 trillion won ($5.35 billion), respectively.

In particular, the operating income decreased 60.15 percent from a year ago, which is the worst in 10 quarters.

The Seoul-based company pointed its finger at the chip and display industry, which struggled to find their feet during the first three months of this year.

“The semiconductor business saw a drop in memory chip prices as inventory adjustments continued at datacenter companies, while demand for high-density memory for mobile phones increased thanks to new flagship smartphones,” a Samsung official said.

“The display panel business reported a quarterly loss due to decreased demand for flexible displays and increasing market supplies for large displays.”

In comparison, the info-tech and mobile communication division also languished although the newly-launched flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S10, logged solid sales across the world.

“Amid softer demand in the overall smartphone market, revamping of the company’s mass-market lineup led to a year-on-year decrease in sales volume,” the official said.

Samsung expects limited improvement in the memory chip market in the second quarter but it hopes that things will be different after that.

“In the second half, despite sluggish demand, smartphone makers are expected to continue to adopt high-spec components. Samsung plans to expand its lineup of image sensors and 5G chipset solutions to address demand for high-end mobile phones,” he said.

“We also plan to diversify product offerings with 3D/fingerprint-on-display sensors and chips for automotive and Internet-of-Thing applications.”

 

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