14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung has reported its financial results for the second quarter of the year (2012) and, in spite of what some may have expected, the company actually had great accomplishments to boast about.
We have actually seen this coming. Even though the whole fight with Apple is a truckload of bad publicity and little else, no one can deny the sheer marketing benefits of always being on the front page and in every other online news headline.
Sure, Apple managed to ban the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in the European Union, but that didn't really stop all other devices from shipping. Besides, it was a recent event, not actually capable of influencing the sales during the April-June period.
Thus, Samsung had a record quarter, earning an operating profit of 6.72 trillion won, or $5.9 billion / 4.79 billion Euro, according to exchange rates.
Revenues were, obviously, much higher, at 47.6 trillion won / $42 billion / 34 billion Euro, give or take.
The profit is 79% higher than what Samsung managed in the same period of the previous year, while revenue rose 21%.
The handset business was the main one responsible for this outcome, having experienced a sales increase of 75% on-year.
The only thing that might dampen enthusiasm is the weak demand for PC DRAM and the declining prices of NAND Flash memory chips. Overall, the Samsung semiconductor business slipped 6% and probably won't do much better this quarter (Q3).
Still, Samsung did well, even if analysts had expected an even higher profit rise (85%). The newfound stability of NAND prices and the rebound of DRAM chips (or lack thereof, as the case may be) will determine whether or not the July-September period proves as lucrative.
Other companies that did well in Q2 are LG (despite weak smartphone sales), ARM and TSMC, while AMD and Logitech number among the less fortunate, to name a few.