Samsung Group’s electronics affiliates are engulfed in a shock ignited by the Galaxy S4. Many forecast that Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Display, and Samsung SDI are expected to report disappointing fourth-quarter performances, which would be even lower than their lower-than-expected third-quarter performances.
Key factors behind their sluggish financial performances include the sluggish sales of Galaxy S4 which was expected to be sold more than 7 million units a month but its monthly sales fell to 3-4 million units in the fourth quarter.
The future outlook is uncertain since the demand for premium smartphones will likely to stagnate further next year.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics, for example, is forecast to post an operating profit of 50 billion won for the fourth quarter of this year, far lower than 144.9 billion won a year ago and 164.3 billion won a quarter ago.
