Better-than-expected profits, but still a 30 per cent slump for Samsung

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday flagged better-than-expected profits for the first quarter, with rising demand for memory chips helping offset slumping smartphone sales. The South Korean electronics giant - the world’s top mobile producer - flagged an operating profit of $5.4 billion for the January-March period. The estimate was down 30.5 per cent from a year ago, but beat average analyst forecasts of around $5 billion, and was up 11.5 per cent from the previous quarter. Sales were down 12.4 per cent from a year ago, Samsung said in its quarterly earnings estimate. Official first-quarter results are due around the end of April. Samsung has faced a double challenge from U.S. arch-rival Apple in the high-end smartphone market and rising Chinese firms like Xiaomi in the mid- and low-end market.

Samsung Business