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It’s been a while since we’ve seen the company’s mobile division become its top earner, and that definitely didn’t happen in the fourth quarter. Samsung’s mobile biz earnings were affected by the hike in marketing costs over the holidays, and the division’s operating profit was down YOY from $2.3 billion in Q4 2016 to around $2.25 billion in Q4 2017. While Samsung saw a decrease in shipments for its low-end phones, its Galaxy Note 8 shipments were up from the previous quarter.
The chaebol, expecting a “growing replacement demand for premium smartphones,” believes its mobile division will bounce back once it starts selling the Galaxy S9. It’s scheduled to unveil the upcoming flagship on February 25th and will make it available for purchase soon after. Of course, Samsung also has big plans for its top-earning components business: it will expand its NAND production this year to be able to meet the growing demand for chips. In addition, it’s putting a spotlight on OLEDs, which it believes will become a “mainstream panel in the smartphone industry.”
More figures from Samsung’s Q4 2017 earnings report:
- $61.5 billion in consolidated revenue overall for the quarter, $223 billion for the year
- memory chip business posted a $10 billion operating profit for the quarter
- display division posted a $1.3 billion operating profit
