Samsung Electronics saw its net profit fall by almost half in the third quarter. The plummeting prices of LCD screens and memory chips are the main culprits.
The gain of the South Korean electronics group amounted to 1.22 trillion won in the past quarter, approximately 680 million euros. That equates to a 44 percent drop in profits from the same period a year ago, when net profit was 2.19 trillion won. Turnover did increase by 15 percent to 19.3 trillion won, or 10.9 billion euros.
As in the second quarter, Samsung continues to suffer from the low market prices for LCD televisions, while the production of Nand and Dram memory chips is also barely profitable. The South Korean company did reach a milestone in mobile phone sales: Samsung sold more than 50 million mobile phones for the first time. However, the average selling price dropped from $143 to $135. The fourth quarter will be “even more challenging” than the past three months, according to Samsung. The company does not expect profits to be much higher.