Samsung said on Tuesday that its first-quarter profit should have increased after falling a year earlier, as its solid chip sales helped partially offset the decline in demand for smartphones and televisions caused by the epidemic of new coronavirus.
Samsung said on Tuesday that its first-quarter profit should have increased after falling a year earlier, as its solid chip sales helped partially offset the decline in demand for smartphones and televisions caused by the epidemic of new coronavirus.
The South Korean group is benefiting from increased demand for chips from computer manufacturers and data centers, as the health crisis has led to a shift to telework.
But at the same time, it expects a steeper decline in sales of cellphones and consumer electronics in the current quarter as the new coronavirus has spread to Europe and the United States – two major markets for its high-end smartphones and televisions.
In a financial notice communicated before the publication of its detailed results, Samsung evokes an operating profit for the period January-March of 6.400 billion won (about 4.81 billion euros), against 6.200 billion won a year more early.
Analysts again expected a profit of 6.2 trillion won, according to Refinitiv SmartEstimate data.
Samsung forecasts a turnover up 5% to 55 trillion won (about 41.64 billion euros), in line with forecasts at 55.6 trillion won.
On the stock market, Samsung Electronics shares were up 1.6% in the initial trade, with a 1.3% gain in the Kospi index.
South Korean tech giant operations expert said first-quarter results were lower than initially forecasted in-house in early March, and Samsung expected second-quarter impact of the crisis sanitary.
When the new coronavirus appeared in mainland China last December, Samsung’s strategy of expanding its production capacity to countries like Vietnam and India seemed to pay off, as the chains stopped supplies in China have hurt rivals like Apple. But the spread of the epidemic has forced Samsung to also close factories and stores in Europe, India and the United States.
