Hong-Kong
CNN
—
Samsung’s quarterly profit fell to its lowest level in eight years as customers bought fewer mobile phones and laptops.
The tech giant on Tuesday reported operating profit of 4.3 trillion Korean won ($3.5 billion) for the three months ended December, down 69% from a year ago. Revenue fell 8% to just under 70.5 trillion won ($57.3 billion), it said in a statement.
It was the company’s weakest quarterly earnings since the third quarter of 2014, when its smartphone business lost serious ground to competitors.
“The business environment deteriorated significantly in the fourth quarter due to weak demand amid a global economic slowdown,” Samsung noted in the statement.
The dismal results were expected. Samsung (SSNLF) had flagged the lackluster performance earlier this month in a pre-earnings forecast, with analysts reporting falling memory chip prices and fewer consumer device orders.
In a presentation to investors, the electronics maker confirmed that “demand for mobile devices and PCs was weak,” and that its memory chip business had also suffered “as customers continued to adjust inventories amid growing uncertainties.”
Samsung expects some of those issues to persist in the coming months due to global economic uncertainty, though it expects overall demand to recover in the second half of the year.
Smartphone demand is likely to decline again this quarter compared to the same period a year ago, “due to the economic slowdown in key regions,” the company said.
Samsung shares fell 3% Tuesday in Seoul.
There were some bright spots. Samsung said it brought in 302.2 trillion won ($245.7 billion) in revenue for the full year 2022, up from 279.6 trillion won ($227.4 billion) in 2021, a record high.
Analysts, however, have said they expect the company’s earnings to fall again this quarter due to a continued decline in memory chip prices.