Samsung Electronics has disclosed its complete financial report for the third quarter of 2023, three weeks after releasing its earnings forecast. The conglomerate from South Korea registered a revenue of KRW 67.4 trillion (approximately $49.86 billion) during the period of July to August, with an operating profit of KRW 2.43 trillion (around $1.79 billion).
This quarter marked the highest profit achieved by the company this year, primarily attributed to robust sales of its OLED display panels and high-end smartphones.
Comparatively, Samsung Electronics’ revenue in Q3 2023 saw a 12% decline from the same quarter in 2022, while its operating profit witnessed a substantial 77% drop from the corresponding period last year. Nonetheless, this quarter’s performance stood out as the company’s most impressive this year, far surpassing the figures from Q2 2023.
The success was accredited to the strong market reception of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Galaxy Z Fold 5, launched in August, alongside notable sales of mobile OLED panels, largely for Apple‘s iPhone 15 series.
The company has faced significant setbacks in revenue and profits since the second half of the preceding year, stemming from weakened demand for semiconductor chips, home appliances, and televisions, influenced by the ongoing global economic slowdown, which has curbed consumer spending.
Notably, the semiconductor chip division incurred its first-ever loss in the company’s history, and the overall profit reached its lowest point in the last 14 years.
Despite these challenges, Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions Business recorded an operating loss of KRW 3.75 trillion ($2.77 billion) in Q3 2023, indicating an improvement compared to the KRW 4.36 trillion ($3.22 billion) loss reported in the previous quarter.
The recent surge in prices of DRAM and NAND flash chips has signaled a promising outlook for the company, especially considering that a significant portion of Samsung’s revenue comes from the sale of these chips.
Samsung MX, responsible for the production of mobile devices, managed to slightly enhance its revenue despite the persisting global economic downturn. The firm strategically focused on the promotion of its premium devices, including the Galaxy S23, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Z Fold 5, aiming to fortify its overall profitability.
Similarly, Samsung Networks, dealing with telecommunication infrastructure equipment, demonstrated notable performance and, in conjunction with Samsung MX, generated an operating profit of KRW 3.3 trillion ($2.44 billion), reflecting a marginal rise from the Q2 2023 figure of KRW 3.2 trillion.
Samsung Display, the division responsible for the sale of OLED panels used in smartphones and TVs, witnessed remarkable profitability in Q3 2023. Benefiting from the sale of millions of industry-leading OLED panels for the iPhone 15 series, the division secured an operating profit of KRW 1.94 trillion ($1.43 billion), marking the second-highest quarterly performance in the last three years.
Anticipating an upturn in smartphone and semiconductor chip sales in the forthcoming quarters, Samsung is poised to report higher revenue and profit. Furthermore, Samsung Foundry, serving as a contract chip manufacturer, has begun to attract more clients, thus contributing to the company’s projected revenue in the coming months. Nevertheless, Samsung cautioned that certain challenging macroeconomic conditions may persist in the near future.
Looking ahead, Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy S24 in the first quarter of 2024, alongside its inaugural mixed-reality headset slated for release next year. With the company’s decision to dual-source processors for the Galaxy S24 (Exynos 2400 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), an improvement in profitability is anticipated in the upcoming year.
Additionally, the South Korean company announced its plan to introduce its maiden laptop based on the Snapdragon X Elite chip, unveiled last week.
