Samsung Guidance Highlights Record $15.5 Billion Profit In Q3 Likely Bolstered By OLED
Samsung is plowing through any pessimism that might exist among financial analysts, and heading towards record quarterly profits, according to the South Korean electronic maker's third quarter guidance. While the official numbers are still be tallied, Samsung expects to report an operating profit of 17.5 trillion Korean won (around $15.5 billion) from 65 trillion won (~$57.5 billion) in sales revenue.
Assuming those figures hold true, Samsung's profit will be around 20 percent higher than it was in the same quarter a year ago, and around 18 percent higher than the previous quarter. The numbers could potentially be even higher as well, as Samsung's guidance split the difference between the company's estimated range of 17.4-17.6 trillion won.
Samsung did not provided a detailed breakdown of the numbers, so we will have to wait for an official accounting of sales from the company's many different product and service segments. However, it's reasonable to assume that Samsung's display business played a big role. By extension, so did rival Apple with its newest iPhone models.
The previous generation iPhone X is Apple's first handset to employ an OLED screen, and the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max do as well. Samsung is no longer the sole supplier of displays to Apple, but is thought to still be a major contributor. Given the premium price tags attached to these devices, it's a safe bet that a good chunk of smartphone display revenue is being funneled into Samsung's pockets.
It remains to be seen how well Samsung's own handsets sold in the third quarter. The same goes for memory chip sales. Prices for memory have come down in recent months, though as a major supplier of memory chips, Samsung is likely to generated significant revenue from the sector.
Samsung can weather slowdowns in particular market segments because it's invested in so many different ones. In addition to smartphones, OLED displays, and memory chips, the company has its tentacles spread into televisions, washing machines and dryers, refrigerators, IoT devices, and more.
