Korean manufacturer saw profits from its mobile business slide to £1.2 billion for final quarter of 2016
Samsung has released a downbeat forecast for its mobile business in 2016 after seeing its quarterly profits slide by 7.3 per cent in the final three months of 2015.
The typical holiday-season boost could not prevent Samsung from seeing mobile revenue dip from KRW 26.61 trillion (£15 billion) in Q3 to KRW 25 trillion (£14.5 billion) at the end of last year. It was also down year-on-year from KRW 26.29 trillion.
Operating profit was also down quarterly from KRW 2.4 trillion to 2.23 trillion (£1.2 billion), but was up year-on-year.
Overall, Samsung’s mobile business posted yearly revenues of KRW 103 trillion, down from the KRW 111 trillion of sales posted in 2014. Profits were down by almost a third to KRW 10.14 trillion.
It came just one day after Samsung’s biggest rival in mobile, Apple, posted stagnant sales of iPhones. Samsung claims the market is flat, and warned investors to expect this to continue into 2016.
A statement said: “Samsung expects single-digit percentage growth in both the smartphone and tablet categories in 2016 amid softening demand and intensifying competition. Despite this challenging environment, the company will focus on increasing smartphone shipments and maintaining a double digit margin through releases of competitive devices and an optimised product portfolio.
“Specifically, in the premium smartphone segment Samsung aims to reinforce its market leadership and drive growth with differentiated and innovative products. For the mass market segment, the company will focus on increasing shipments and profitability through competitive product line-ups.”
