Samsung Electronics forecasts 60% fall in quarterly profit

[Bosonic]

Source: BBC

Samsung Electronics has forecast a 60% fall in quarterly operating profit compared to the same period last year, because of slowing sales of its Galaxy smartphones.

The world's biggest mobile phones and TV maker said it expects an operating income of 4.1tn won ($3.8bn; £2.5bn) for the three months to September.

That is below analysts' estimates for earnings of 5.2tn won.

The company's full financial results will be released later this month.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29516806

[Sopkoviak]

1. Yesterday they announced a new 14.7 billion dollar chip plant

Samsung Electronics makes $14.7 billion bet with new South Korean chip plant

(Reuters) - South Korean IT giant Samsung Electronics plans to spend $14.7 billion on a new chip facility - its biggest investment in a single plant - leaning on its semiconductor business to bolster profits as its smartphone dominance wanes.

Samsung, the world's top memory chip maker, said the plant would be located in Pyeongtaek, roughly 75 kilometers (47 miles) south of Seoul. The company said it would create 150,000 jobs, equal to about a third of the city's population.

The bet on chips comes as its smartphone business is being squeezed by Apple Inc in the premium segment and undercut by Chinese rivals like Lenovo Group Ltd in mid-to-low end. April-June operating profit for Samsung's mobile division fell in annual terms for the second straight quarter, the longest streak since at least 2011.

But with the higher demand for mobile devices come increased orders for mobile chips, and Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division will be key to propping up the company's bottom-line, analysts say.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/06/us-samsung-elec-investment-chips-idUSKCN0HV01R20141006

And they paid Microsoft 1 billion dollars last year.

Microsoft gets $1bn in Android royalties from Samsung

Samsung paid Microsoft about $1bn (£626m) last year to use its technology in gadgets running Google's Android.

The figure is revealed in court documents Microsoft has filed to help legal action taken against Samsung.

The case revolves around the licensing agreement that generated the $1bn payment.

Samsung made one payment late and has now stopped paying altogether, claiming Microsoft's 2013 acquisition of Nokia had invalidated the agreement.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29505439

Lots of money in those smart phones.

[davidpdx]

12. Just for geographic reference

Pyeongtaek is just south of Seoul in Gyeonggi-do Province about 45 minutes from Seoul. There is still a lot of land in that area and it is also where the new US base to consolidate the some of the current ones will be when they leave Yongsan (which is in Seoul) in the next few years.

[still_one]

2. ironic that the Galaxy phone fans were declaring the slowdown of Apple when instead it appears in

their own backyard

[sir pball]

3. The global market as a whole is slowing

Samsung having components in virtually every device (not just phones), including Apple ones, means they're taking the sum total of the slowdown instead of just a bit of it. Galaxy phones alone selling under expectactions is fat less catastrophic than Galaxys, iThings, HTCs, Nokias and the rest of the lot all falling short, when you have a stake in all the above.

[still_one]

5. Except Apple's sales are increasing. It will be interesting to see what happens Oct 17th when sales

begins in China

[sir pball]

6. Then Samsung's profits will increase also.

I don't think they're making the A8 processor, but I know they're still making the RAM and a few other bits and doodads. I wasn't remarking on Apple specifically anyway (my evangelism for them waned years ago, I still love my MacBook but pay no attention to trivialities like market share), just pointing out that Samsung is so involved as a supplier that it's unsurprising their numbers drop fat more steeply than their sales figures alone would seem to suggest.

[still_one]

9. They will have profits, but greatly decreased profit, at least according to the article, they said

their earnings will be sharply lower. Doesn't mean they won't have a profit, but it will be significantly lower.

Ironically, the iPhone 6+ mimics a lot of features that Samsung's Note has.

As far as Apple is concerned there is no questioned they are over-hyped. Hell, Microsoft was light years ahead of them in their software development environment. Apple's software development environment is just starting to come into the 20th century.

An interesting observation, when Microsoft Vista came out, Apple did not try to expand into the business community which Microsoft had the majority of business. Perhaps that was a correct decision, because they were unwilling to compromise on lowering their prices, but it gave Microsoft the time to come out with Windows 7, and that bought them time.

Of course most are aware that Microsoft screwed up big time with Windows 8, as evidenced by the lack of enterprise adoption. They also missed the boat on mobile phones and are playing catch-up. They have a lot of resources so it is going to be interesting to see if they become a real player in the mobile market.

[sir pball]

10. Profits increasing doesn't necessarily mean in the black by any means

Just saying that Samsung is probably the best bellweather of the long term trends in the entire consumer tech sector simply because they supply to *everyone*. I still chuckle when the rabid Apple fanbois freak out at Galaxys, remembering the demand that Apple ditch LG as a Retina display supplier for an exclusive Samsung deal (LG panels were quite problematic, the Sammy displays not so much).

As to the rest of what you said, not so much tl;dr as tl;can't type a long reply on my phone. Galaxy S5 for the record, but mostly for the waterproofness. And the relative ease of root vs. iOS.

[wilt the stilt]

4. this is one of the worst companies

They have historically stolen from everyone and when they get sued they counter sue. It is part of their business strategy. No one else is like them.

[onehandle]

8. They are such a mess, that they were forced to have 3 CEOs.

When they lost the massive lawsuit to Apple, executives kept the news away from the formerly one CEO for three days.

Then he disappeared for days.

[davidpdx]

11. Corruption is common in Korean companies

Korea is also in the midst of a recession (even though I live here it was something I actually wasn't aware of until this morning when I was listening to the English news). Right now the conservative president is just digging a deeper hole financially for the country and we still have to put up with her for another 3 1/2 years (I believe). God almighty the liberals in this country need to get their shit together.

[onehandle]

13. Korea is starting their 'lost decade.' Much like Japan in the 90s and beyond.

Japan never really recovered.

[davidpdx]

14. The recession here isn't quite as bad as it was in Japan

We'll see if they pull out of the gutter or not. One thing that is similar between the two countries is the decreasing birth rate and the growing number of elderly who are going to need help. It seems like both governments are using money to appease the elderly to stay in power.

[onehandle]

7. Samsung's commercials are nothing but attack ads.

They got nothin' and have overreached and overspent in desperation.