Samsung, one of the largest smartphone firms, has recorded its first profit growth in almost two years (seven quarters to be exact), dating all the way back to the Galaxy S4 days. In its latest earnings report, the company announced $6.45 billion in profit last quarter, up an impressive 82% from a year ago on a revenue of $45 billion.
So all is good and rosy, then? Not quite. Half of the company’s operating profit ($3.2 billion) came from the semiconductor business, which supplies to partners such as Apple and which recently split that deal with TSMC, which shouldn’t help. Display panels contributed $812 million in sales, as well.
Which leaves us the smartphone division. Even though it contributed $2.1 billion in profit, Samsung agrees that there is a problem here. For one, sales did see a “significant” increase when it came to the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy A and J series. However, the pricing adjustment of the company’s flagships did mean that the profit levels hurt over the quarters.
That can’t be surprising as Samsung had to shift the price levels considerably to boost lackluster sales of its flagship Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge devices. The future outlook doesn’t look too good at all, as it predicts a tougher competition from Cupertino, and also from China even though a profit is expected the next quarter. With handheld sales now slowing down in key markets, Samsung will be turning its attention to its payment system “Samsung Pay” and on the wearable sector to sustain growth.
