Samsung today announced its quarterly earnings for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2019. The company declared revenue of KRW 59.88 trillion (approx. $50.18 billion), down from KRW 62 trillion (approx. $51.96 billion) in the previous quarter. The firm blames a dip in QoQ revenue due to the “fading effect” from a new flagship product launch. However, the firm notes that earnings from the mobile business improved significantly owing to strong sales of Galaxy flagship smartphones and increased profitability from some mass-market models.
The company’s profits fell year-on-year, which the company blames on lower memory chip prices and weakness in display panel sales. Interestingly, the company stated that there was weaker demand for premium products. On the flip side, the firm cited increased earnings QoQ from data centers and major applications, and overall cost reduction. It also posted increased YoY profits from high-resolution image sensors and HPC (high-performance computing) chips.
In its outlook for the mobile device business, the company says that it aims to expand sales of premium models. It aims to do so by differentiating its premium smartphones by expanding 5G adoption and interestingly, by introducing new designs for foldable products.
The South Korean giant is expected to launch the clamshell designed Galaxy X Flip at its unpacked event on February 11. It is interesting to see the company commit to introducing newer designs since the only other foldable phone from the firm that is due for an update is the Galaxy Fold. Some reports suggest that the firm plans on launching S Pen enabled foldable devices, but it is still a mystery if they would sport a new design, or if the Galaxy Fold 2 will indeed come with an S Pen.
As for profits from its mobile division, the electronics giant suggests that profits are expected to remain flat due to “higher marketing expenses used to boost flagship smartphone sales”. Consumer electronics, such as Premium TVs and appliances recorded KRW 12.71 trillion (approx. $10.67 billion) in revenue, up QoQ and YoY.