April 19, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR]  Samsung Electronics said Jan. 20 that it would unveil its earnings for the October-December period in 2016 on Jan. 24, a day after it is scheduled to announce the results of its investigation into the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7.

In a preliminary earnings guidance published on Jan. 6, Samsung said that it earned 9.2 trillion won (US$7.86 billion) in operating profit, beating the average market estimates of 8.3 trillion won. 

The world’s largest smartphone maker forecast its sales would stand at 53 trillion won.

The figure for the Q4 operating profit, up 49.82 percent on-year, is the highest since the 10.2 trillion won operating income the firm logged in the third quarter of 2013.

Market analysts attributed the better-than-expected earnings to the robust sales of the firm’s semiconductor business, whose operating income in the fourth quarter is expected to stay in the mid-4 trillion-won range.

The sales of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, with which Samsung tried to make up for the loss of the short-lived Galaxy Note 7 during the year-end season, also helped improve the profits.

A day before releasing its 4Q earnings, the Korean tech firm will announce the cause of the fire and explosion of the Galaxy Note 7 in a media briefing at 10 a.m. at the head office building in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul.

The briefing will be led by Samsung’s smartphone business chief Koh Dong-jin, who issued an apology when the firm decided to recall the troubled smartphone on Sept. 2.

The probe results come at a critical time for the world’s largest smartphone maker, which is preparing for the release of the upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone as early as March.

It was widely thought that the Note 7 had problems with hardware design or software, but Samsung is said to have concluded that the fire and explosion of the smartphone was caused by flaws related to the battery, according to sources.

Samsung has conducted a series of its own investigations while requesting outside laboratories, including Korea Testing Laboratory, for testing the now-recalled Note 7 to find the exact cause.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)