Samsung says profits are likely to increase, but competition with smartphones is fierce

Samsung says profits are likely to increase, but competition with smartphones is fierce

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The South Korean conglomerate said on Friday it expects to make an operating profit of about 9 billion Korean won ($ 8.2 billion) for the quarter from October to December, an increase over the same period a year earlier. but slightly down from the estimate of analysts.

Samsung reports bumper gains, but warns of slump ahead

The company predicted sales of approximately 61 billion Korean won ($ 56 billion), in line with the expectations of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv.

Samsung’s (SSNLF) ‘s share rose about 1.8% in Seoul on Friday.

The company did not elaborate on earnings, but it will report full results for the fourth quarter by the end of this month.

While demand for some of Samsung’s electronics and other components, such as display panels, is likely to remain good, competition in the smartphone market is facing strong competition. Chinese rival Huawei briefly surpassed Samsung last year to become the largest smartphone seller in the world, while Apple has just launched a 5G-backed iPhone.

Nevertheless, analysts expect earnings to be strong in 2021 as sales of smartphones and memory chips increase. SK Kim, analyst at Daiwa, pointed to the upcoming release of the Samsung Galaxy S21 as a bright spot.

“We see [Samsung] the launch of the Galaxy S series, its main flagship line, earlier than before by the end of January 2021, which we believe will give a sharp rebound in smartphone shipping, ‘Kim wrote in a research note earlier this week.

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