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As shown by this indicator, the situation is not good for companies.

Samsung Electronics, Korea's leading company, showed that its operating profit in the third quarter fell by more than 30% compared to a year ago.

This is attributed to the sharp decline in semiconductor exports.



By Jang Hoon-kyung.



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Apple's new smartphone, iPhone 14.



Apple is said to have withdrawn its original plan to increase production by 6 million units.



This is because of concerns about sluggish demand.



Global smartphone shipments fell 9% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year due to high inflation and the economic downturn, dropping to less than 300 million units in seven quarters.



Computers and tablet PCs, which saw sales surge during the corona period, are also expected to grow negatively this year.



The sharp decline in IT product sales is leading to a decrease in demand for semiconductors, a major component.



[Yoon Ji-ho / Director of eBest Investment & Securities Research Center: The important thing is that demand is sluggish, but there is a lot of inventory.

The memory semiconductor price itself will not come down considerably...

.]



Due to the semiconductor cold wave, Samsung Electronics' operating profit in the third quarter was 10.8 trillion won, down 31.7% from a year ago.



This is the third year of negative growth.



Until the second quarter, semiconductors accounted for 70% of Samsung Electronics' operating profit, but now the situation has changed.



The future is also dark.



The prevailing forecast is that semiconductor demand will continue to slow for a considerable period of time due to the Ukraine war, China blockade and inflation.



Micron, the largest memory semiconductor maker in the US, has announced a production cut.



Samsung Electronics also recently lowered its sales forecast for the second half of the year by more than 30% or 20 trillion won from the April forecast.



However, Samsung Electronics said, "It does not change the planned route easily," and said that it is not considering artificial production cuts.