Samsung Doesn't Do That Well in 1Q11

It appears that Samsung has finally made the official update on its finances, this once dealing with the first quarter of 2011, and it looks like things didn't go very well because of weak memory demand and slow display sales.

Samsung has finally come forth and supplied the Internet with the information on its financial situation after the closing of the most recent quarter.

This is not so surprising, considering how many other IT players have done something of the sort in recent weeks.

Logitech, for instance, is among those that didn't manage that well for themselves, while Acer's operations are only now settling down, after the whole management and business goal change episode.

Now, it is revealed that Samsung didn't really manage to shine either, having, instead, suffered a 30% drop in net income, on-year anyway.

While revenues did manage to rise on a yearly basis, leading to the sum of 36.99 trillion Koran won (7% more than in 1Q10), net profits ended up at 2.78 trillion won (hence, 30% lower).

The main reasons for this were the weak demand in memory and the lower sales of display panels. Smartphone sales and digital media/appliance did sell better, but they couldn't make up for everything else.

"A difficult business environment remained in the first quarter, due to rising costs of raw materials, uncertainties in the financial market in Europe, and the devastating earthquake in Japan," said Robert Yi, vice president and head of Samsung Electronics' Investor Relations Team.

"But we will actively respond to such challenges by enhancing cost competitiveness in memory products through geometry migration, launching new smartphones and tablet PCs, as well as increasing the sales focus on premium LCD panels and TVs."

Stronger demand for NAND Flash memory products (especially those used in tablets and smartphones) at least managed to drive overall semiconductor sales 12 higher on-year. What remains is to see what the second quarter brings.