Despite the challenges facing the COVID-19 epidemic, Samsung‘s extensive efforts to ensure a sustainable supply of products and services worldwide had a positive impact on fourth-quarter results.
According to the business results, the profits through the display and memory chip business increased 26.4 percent year-over-year, while Korea was successful due to weak memory prices, slow consumer product sales, high marketing costs, and negative currency effects.
The value of the Korean currency increased sharply against the US dollar, the euro, and major currencies of emerging markets, resulting in a gain of about 1.4 trillion won compared to the previous quarter. It mainly affected the semiconductor and display business.
Despite steady exports, the memory business cut profits in the quarter due to the continued decline in chip prices, the strength of the won, and the initial cost of new production lines.
In spite of the increase in orders from large global customers, the System LSI and foundry businesses have suffered strong won. Display panel revenue increased significantly during the quarter and YoY, with significant growth in mobile quarterly production and increased demand in the large display market.
The mobile communications segment declined this quarter due to weak revenue and high marketing costs. The expansion of 5G services in Korea and the ongoing global 4G/5G rollout network segment have boosted revenue.
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Looking at the first quarter, Samsung Electronics expects overall profit to weaken in the first quarter of 2021. Despite the strong demand for mobile, the continued success of the strong business is likely to continue under the pressure of continued expenses and costs associated with new production lines for products, and data centers.
The System LSI plans to expand exports of business system-on-chips (SoCs), image sensors, and display driver agencies (DDIs). In the display area, sales of mobile displays are expected to decline significantly after a strong fourth quarter.
The mobile communications division expects steady sales of new models for popular smartphones such as the mass market and the Galaxy S21 5G series. The memory business, especially the DRAM market, is likely to recover in the first half of the year as there is strong demand from mobile and server applications.
The Display Panel aims to further expand its leadership in business mobile displays by focusing on the timely development of large quantum dot (QD) display products in large format panels.
The mobile communications division plans to increase sales of flagship, foldable and new 5G models. The consumer electronics division plans to expand its premium range to include Neo QLED, micro-LED, and bespoke devices.
