Samsung revenues improved in Q3 despite underwhelming phone sales
Samsung posted its financial results for July-September 2024, with both sales and operating profit improving on a yearly basis. The biggest contributor was the DS division, which comprises of the memory, system LSI, and foundry businesses. It saw a 78% increase in sales and a 200% jump in total profit of KRW 3.86 trillion.
The MX business, which sells Galaxy phones, tablets and accessories, posted a modest 3% increase in sales but a 14% decline in profit as the market was affected by global inflation.
| (all units in KRW / USD) | Q3 2024 | Q2 2024 | QoQ Change | Q3 2023 | YoY Change |
| Mobile eXperience Sales | 30.52 trillion / 22.13 billion | 27.38 trillion / 19.86 billion | 11% | 30.00 trillion / 21.76 billion | 2% |
| Mobile eXperience Operating Profit | 2.82 trillion / 2.04 billion | 2.23 trillion / 1.61 billion | 26.5% | 3.30 trillion / 2.39 billion | -14.5% |
| Total sales | 79.10 trillion / 57.38 billion | 74.07 trillion / 53.72 billion | 7% | 67.40 trillion / 48.89 billion | 17% |
| Total profit | 9.18 trillion / 6.65 billion | 10.44 trillion / 7.57 billion | -12% | 2.43 trillion / 1.76 billion | 277% |
Samsung revealed that smartphone demand increased only slightly during Q3. Sales numbers were high because of improved flagship models, and despite the material costs, profit improved sequentially.
Expectations for the next quarter are that the market will grow due to seasonality, which includes the holiday season in Western Europe and the US — Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, Christmas and New Year.
The memory business remained strong, driven by companies" investments in AI and conventional servers. Some inventory adjustments impacted mobile demand, leading to increased channel inventories and readjustments in purchasing demand.
The outlook for the future is for the market trend to remain similar. However, geopolitical issues and stimulus packages could affect it; for example, China could decide to invest in local companies, and the United States might do the same, effectively hurting Samsung"s performance.
