Samsung Electronics broke the market forecast that earnings would be sluggish due to the impact of Corona 19 in the second quarter and achieved good results with an operating profit of more than 8 trillion won.

With the Corona 19, the semiconductor business looked special, and smartphones and TVs were not as strong as expected, and the one-off profits were reflected and exceeded the market forecasts.

In the market, it is estimated that Samsung Electronics showed off its strength in the midst of the Corona19 crisis, and that market uncertainty is aggravated, and it is predicted that 3Q earnings cannot be optimistic.

According to the 2nd quarter results released by Samsung Electronics today (30th), operating profit increased by 23.48% from the same period last year to KRW 8,144.6 trillion, and sales decreased by 5.63% to KRW 52.96 trillion.

Operating profit increased 26.35% from the first quarter, when it was KRW 6.45 trillion.

Prior to Samsung Electronics' 2Q earnings release, securities companies raised their consensus all at once, but none predicted that it would exceed 8 trillion won.

The performance of Samsung Electronics has a large semiconductor effect, in which semiconductors offset the deterioration of performance in other sectors.

In the second quarter of this year, semiconductors were firmly made of corona special, and smart phones, TVs, and home appliances were also generally good.

In the second quarter, the semiconductor division's operating profit was 5.43 trillion won and sales were 18.23 trillion won, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2018.

The price of server DRAM continues to rise this year, and the semiconductor sector has been solid as demand for telecommuting, video conferencing, etc. has increased since the outbreak of Corona 19.

The wireless mobile (IM) division in charge of smartphones generated operating profit of 1.95 trillion won and sales of 20.75 trillion won.

The IM division's operating profit decreased by nearly 1 trillion won from the first quarter (2.65 trillion won), but it is about 400 billion won higher than the same period last year (1.55 trillion won).

It is analyzed that smartphone shipments exceeded expectations, and marketing expenses drastically decreased due to corona effects, resulting in higher operating profit than expected.

Samsung Electronics explained, “Smartphone sales and sales fell QoQ due to the decrease in demand due to Corona19, but we maintained profitability through cost-efficiency such as reduced marketing costs.”

The CE division, such as TV and consumer electronics, also suffered a direct hit with Corona 19. The offline stores in North America and Europe reopened, entered the peak season in Korea, and increased premium demand. Won.

Another key achievement in the second quarter was the display division (DP, Samsung Display).

The deficit was predicted to be strong following the first quarter, but it made a surplus of 300 billion won reflecting one-off profits.

Samsung Electronics has not yet confirmed the one-off profit, but the industry estimates that Apple, a customer, has paid Samsung a kind of compensation for a decrease in demand for flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels due to sluggish iPhone sales. .

The company said, "In the case of small and medium-sized panels in the DP sector, demand for smartphones has decreased, but profits have increased from the previous quarter due to one-off revenue." Explained.

Haman, which was acquired in 2017, recorded an operating loss of KRW 90 billion in the second quarter.

The company explained that the deficit narrowed rather than the previous quarter (190 billion won) due to the recovery of demand for consumer products.


Samsung Electronics' 2Q operating profit was more than 7 trillion won, excluding the one-off profit (approximately 1 trillion won) of the DP division's one-off profit.

Despite these'surprising results', Samsung Electronics is in a situation where it cannot explode.

In 3Q, the outlook for smartphones and TVs to recover further and the display to improve with the production of new smartphones are expected to improve.

However, long-term corona19 uncertainty is growing and industry competition is intensifying.

Another big factor is the need to increase marketing costs, which have been significantly reduced.

The DP division plans to actively respond to the launch of new smartphone products by major customers.

However, Samsung Electronics predicted that in 3Q, the market is expected to recover, focusing on mid- and low-priced smartphones.

It is pointed out that it is unclear whether the semiconductor division will continue to boom due to the expected fall in memory prices in the second half due to inventory accumulated in the first half.

The company said that "memory will operate flexibly with the prospect that mobile and graphics demand will recover with the launch of new smartphones and game consoles."

(Photo = Yonhap News)