Despite the logistical challenges it faces, Samsung Electronics expects to have made significantly more profit in the past quarter.
The South Korean tech group spoke in a preliminary trade update of possibly 14.1 trillion won operating profit. That would be an increase of more than 50 percent year on year.
Samsung, which is the world’s largest smartphone maker, among other things, did not provide details on the performance of its various divisions. However, experts say the company will have benefited mainly from stronger mobile device sales. On the other hand, the memory chip division is expected to underperform due to logistical problems and lower prices despite strong demand.
Samsung is expected to release the final results on April 28. Last year, semiconductor prices soared due to the strong demand for personal devices and data centres chips. That price increase helped Samsung to record sales that year. In addition, memory chips are used in various devices and servers. They are also crucial for remote working during the pandemic. As a result, the sector has become less dependent on the seasonal demand for smartphones and laptops.
Samsung’s smartphone arm has recently been discredited in South Korea for a pre-installed app called Game Optimizations Service on the latest Galaxy S devices. The app was intended to fine-tune system performance, but consumers say it was used to throttle thousands of non-gaming apps. Over the matter, Samsung Vice President Han Jong-hee apologized. The issue also sparked a class action by nearly 2,000 consumers, each seeking damages of 300,000 won.
