Samsung Electronics released on April 29 its consolidated financial results for the first quarter of this year. Sales and operating profit each reached 53.68 trillion won and 8.49 trillion won. Compared to a quarter ago, sales fell 9.4 percent but operating profit grew 2.1 percent. Its sales decline is attributable to the sluggish performance in the areas of home electronics, display, and semiconductors.
Through a conference call held on the same day, the company noted, “We expect our performance to improve in the second quarter thanks to the full-scale sales of Galaxy S5,” adding that some uncertainties remain, including foreign exchange rate movements and the concerns about the slowing growth of the emerging markets due to the U.S. quantitative easing tapering.
Samsung Electronics, which was shocked by the sluggish sales of Galaxy S4 in the fourth quarter of last year, saw its smartphone sales rise again. The IM division, which is responsible for IT and mobile, posted an operating profit of 6.43 trillion won in the first quarter, accounting for 75.7 percent of the company’s total profit.
