For First Time after Galaxy Note 7 Fiasco

The operating profit of IT & mobile communications (IM) division of Samsung Electronics decreased by about 37 percent from 2.42 trillion won (US$2.18 billion) from the same period a year earlier.
The operating profit of IT & mobile communications (IM) division of Samsung Electronics decreased by about 37 percent from 2.42 trillion won (US$2.18 billion) from the same period a year earlier.

Samsung Electronics’ operating profit in the smartphone business division in the fourth quarter of 2018 decreased by 37 percent in a year. In particular, the figure fell below 2 trillion won (US$1.80 billion) for the first time in nine quarters after the third quarter of 2016 when the Galaxy Note 7 was recalled due to its battery fire problem.

The company announced that its IT & mobile communications (IM) division, which is in charge of smartphone business, posted 1.51 trillion won (US$1.36 billion) in operating profit in the fourth quarter last year. Its sales amounted to 11.79 trillion won (US$10.60 billion).

Samsung Electronics said, “Despite the peak season, the sales of smartphones dropped because of the market slowdown and it dragged down the overall performance compared to the previous quarter.”

The operating profit of the IM division decreased by about 37 percent from 2.42 trillion won (US$2.18 billion) from the same period a year earlier. The figure also dropped by 31 percent compared with 2.22 trillion won (US$1.20 billion) at the previous quarter.

Samsung Electronics’ smartphone business maintained an operating profit of 2 trillion won to 4 trillion won (US$1.80 billion to 3.60 billion), except for the third quarter of 2016 when the Galaxy Note 7 incident occurred. It is the first time in nine quarters that the company recorded some 1 trillion won (US$898.96 million) of operating profit.

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