Samsung records strong Q3 propelled by chips

Samsung Electronics on Thursday said it recorded 74 trillion won in sales and 15.8 trillion won in operating income during the third quarter. It is an increase of 10.4% and 28%, respectively, from the same period last year.

The operating income figure is Samsung’s second-best to date, with the company crediting favourable market conditions in the memory market and robust sales from its foundry and display businesses.

The sales figure was also Samsung’s highest to date for a quarter, thanks to sales increases across the board in all its businesses, including smartphones, the South Korean tech giant said. Its chip business contributed the lion’s share in operating income of 10 trillion won, which was over half of the total.

Samsung said it shipped the most DRAM to date during the quarter due to high demand from the server sector.

Profitability for NAND flash also increased thanks to expanded sales of premium products, it said. For logic chips, its foundry business expanded supply to global customers, which also helped with profits, Samsung added.

The company’s mobile business also continued to chug along, contributing 3.36 trillion won in operating income.

Samsung said the launch of its new foldable phones, expanded sales of its mid-tier phones, and growth in other devices within the Galaxy ecosystem helped increase profits.

The display business unit contributed the third-most in operating income with 1.5 trillion won. Samsung said display earnings improved as a result of new products being launched by a major smartphone customer during the quarter. The company didn’t explicitly name the customer, but it is likely Apple, which recently launched the iPhone 13.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Samsung said while demand from customers may be influenced by the ongoing component shortage, it expected demand for memory chips from the server sector to remain solid. In smartphones, the South Korean tech giant said it plans to continue expanding sales of its foldable and mid-tier 5G phones as well as tablets and wearables to secure solid profitability.

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