Samsung's 2020 profit logs double-digit growth amid COVID-19
Source: Xinhua | 2021-01-09
Samsung Electronics, South Korea's tech giant, recorded a double-digit growth in its 2020 operating profit as the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for tech products, the company said Friday.
Preliminary reading for consolidated operating profit amounted to 35.95 trillion won (33 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, up 29.5 percent from the previous year.
Revenue grew 2.5 percent to 236.26 trillion won last year, marking the third-highest figure in the company's history.
Net income and detailed earnings on each business unit will be announced later this month after an external audit and the board of directors' approval.
The double-digit increase in operating profit was attributable to the advent of a so-called untact economy, caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
People around the world preferred to work from home and attend online classes, raising demand for tech products to support contactless activities.
During the October-December quarter, Samsung's preliminary figure for operating profit came to 9 trillion won.
It was up 25.7 percent from a year earlier, meeting the market expectations of about 9.1 trillion won.
Revenue rose 1.9 percent over the year to 61 trillion won in the fourth quarter.
However, the operating profit tumbled 27.1 percent compared to the previous quarter, while the revenue was down 8.9 percent on a quarterly basis.
The profit fall came on the back of lower memory chip price, weak demand for smartphones and the local currency's appreciation to the greenback.
Market watchers estimated that Samsung's chip-making business recorded an operating profit of around 4.3 trillion won in the fourth quarter.
It was sharply down from a profit of 5.54 trillion won in the third quarter owing to the lower DRAM chip price used for servers and the South Korean won's ascent to the dollar.
The mobile phone-producing unit was estimated to post an operating profit of between 2.3 trillion won and 2.4 trillion won for the fourth quarter.
It was some 1.6 trillion won lower than the previous quarter's profit amid a stiffer competition with iPhone maker Apple.
Estimate for the consumer electronics division's fourth-quarter operating profit was set at a range of between 800 billion won and 900 billion won.
It was down from the prior quarter due to a higher marketing cost and a discount sale during the year-end shopping season.
The display panel business was estimated to log a higher operating profit of around 1.5 trillion won in the fourth quarter thanks to stronger demand for panels used for smartphones and TVs. (1 U.S. dollar equals 1,091.92 South Korean won)
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