Samsung says profits have likely gone up, but competition for smartphones is fierce
The South Korean group said on Friday that it expects an operating profit of around 9 trillion Korean won ($ 8.2 billion) for the first quarter from October to December, up from the same period the previous year but somewhat far from analysts’ estimates.
The company forecast sales of about 61 trillion Korean won ($ 56 billion), in line with analysts’ expectations in a survey conducted by Refinitiv.
The company did not provide details of the profits, but it will announce the full results of the fourth quarter at the end of this month.
However, analysts expect profits in 2021 to be strong as sales of smartphones and memory chips increase. Analyst Daiwa SK Kim pointed to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S21 as a bright spot.
“We see [Samsung] The Galaxy S series, its flagship flagship, will launch earlier than before by the end of January 2021, which we believe will lead to a sharp recovery in smartphone charging, ”Kim wrote in a research note earlier this week.