SEOUL: Samsung reported its smallest quarterly profit in nearly three years yesterday as its key smartphone business faltered under competition from Apple’s iPhone6 and Chinese handset makers in an increasingly saturated market.
Net profit amounted to 4.22 trillion won (RM13 billion) for July to September, marking a dramatic fall of 48.8 per cent from a year ago, and the lowest figure since the fourth quarter of 2011.
Operating profit also dropped 60 per cent from a year ago to 4.06 trillion won, while sales tumbled about 20 per cent to 47.4 trillion won, Samsung said in a statement.
The electronics giant’s mobile phone unit reported operating profit of 1.75 trillion won in the third quarter, a dramatic decline from 6.7 trillion won a year ago.
Samsung has a diverse product line ranging from memory chips to home appliances, but it is the mobile division that had driven its record profit surge of recent years.
The current slump was starkly reflected in the fact that the mobile unit’s operating profit in the third quarter accounted for 43 per cent of the company’s total, compared with 76 per cent just six months ago.
Actual sales revenue tumbled to 24.6 trillion won from 36.6 trillion won. AFP