14 DAY TRIAL // One of the biggest smartphone makers on the market, Samsung, has just announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2017. The company’s operating profit in Q1 2017 reached $8.7 billion, making it the second-best quarter for Samsung and highest-ever operating profit in Q1.
Samsung’s revenue reached $44.7 billion, generated partly by strong sales of displays and memory chips, while flagship products sales decreased in the first quarter. High profits were generated by the components businesses, including the semiconductor division and the display panel segment.
The company provided details about earnings recorded by the Mobile division, mentioning that earnings dropped in the first quarter due to declining prices for the Galaxy S7. But the situation will surely change in the second quarter of this year, when sales of Samsung’s newest flagships, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, will be taken into consideration.
Pre-orders for the two smartphones surpassed previous records set by the Galaxy S7, managing to attract over 1 million customers in Korea alone, while sales are expected to grow exponentially and result in high profits for the mobile division.
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First quarter results also include sales of the Galaxy A 2017 series, while mid- to low-end smartphones recorded solid sales in emerging markets, but lower prices for the Galaxy S7 and S7+ affected overall profits.
For the whole 2017 year, Samsung expects to see high demand for the memory business, as well as OLED panels, which are predicted to see greater shipments, perhaps due to Apple’s iPhone 8 which will feature an OLED display and is said to enter production in the coming months.
Because of this, market competition in the mobile business will intensify in the second half of the year, when Samsung will focus on maintaining high sales of the Galaxy S8 and S8+, while also preparing to launch a new flagship, the Galaxy Note 8. Aside from this, Samsung also announced its intention to launch new mid- to low-end smartphones later this year.