Samsung Electronics announced on the 28th that it posted sales of 61.5 trillion won and operating profit of 9.5 trillion won on a consolidated basis in the fourth quarter of last year. Compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year, sales and operating profit increased 2.78% and 26.35%, respectively. Compared to the previous quarter, sales decreased 8.1% and operating profit decreased 26%. As the competition for set products intensified, sales declined, and the company explained that it was affected by a fall in memory semiconductor prices and a weak won.
Last year’s annual operating profit was 35,993.9 billion won, up 29.62% from the previous year. Sales increased 2.78% from the previous year to 236 trillion won. It is the fourth time since 2013, 2017 and 2018 that Samsung Electronics’ annual operating profit exceeded 35 trillion won. The industry evaluated that it was better than last year and that it was regrettable compared to the previous quarter.
The reason why we were able to achieve even results in all sectors, including semiconductors, smartphones, and home appliances, was due to the increased “non-face-to-face demand” due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). The semiconductor division supported the DS division (sales of 103.4 trillion won and operating profit of 21.12 trillion won) with sales of 72.86 trillion won and operating profit of 18.81 trillion won last year. This is the result of adding the demand for non-face-to-face and data servers to the demand for graphics cards for virtual currency mining. The display division also achieved sales of KRW 30,59 trillion and operating profit of KRW 2.4 trillion. It is explained that demand for small and medium-sized displays, mainly smartphones, has recovered from the second half of the year.
The consumer electronics (CE division) business also benefited from the’Untact’ craze. Last year, it recorded sales of 48.17 trillion won and operating profit of 3.5 trillion won, making it the first ever operating profit of 3 trillion won. The company explained that as a result of minimizing supply disruptions by exerting supply chain management (SCM) capabilities even to the international entry restrictions (lockdown) measures caused by Corona 19, the company was able to respond immediately to’revengeful consumption’.
The IM division, in charge of the smartphone business, recorded an operating profit of 11 trillion won last year. It jumped 24% from the previous year (9 trillion 270 billion won). The sales amounted to 99.9 trillion won, down 7% from the previous year.
Last year, facility investment was 38.5 trillion won, an increase of 43% from 2019. An official from Samsung Electronics said, “We will continue to invest in facilities, focusing on infrastructure such as semiconductor production facilities, and operate them in a way that depends on market demand.”
Reporter Lee Soo-bin [email protected]
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