Samsung Electronics expects operating profits of 15.6 trillion won (around $14.6 billion) for the first quarter of 2018, it has said in its earning guidance.
It beats the market consensus of 14.5 trillion won by local securities firms and is its highest ever for a quarter. The figure marks a rise of 57.6 percent from last year’s 9.898 trillion won of operating profit for Q1 2017.
Q1 2018 saw revenues of 60 trillion won, an 18.7 percent rise from a year ago. Samsung posted 15.147 trillion won for the fourth quarter last year, its previous high for a quarter.
Analysts estimate that semiconductors, especially memory chips, have contributed some 11 trillion won, while the early launch of the high-margin Galaxy S9 series also likely contributed.
However, the decline in sales of small-sized OLED displays from a lack of popularity of iPhone X likely hurt the display business. Samsung is the main supplier for the displays.
Samsung is expected to continue its streak to the second quarter from continued high demand for semiconductors and sales of the S9 series.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/samsung-to-post-record-15-6-trillion-won-profit-for-q1-2018/
