Earlier this month, Samsung had announced that it is expecting the highest-ever quarterly revenue during Q3 2021. Today, the company revealed its final financial numbers for the quarter. It reported the highest-ever quarterly revenue and the highest operating profit over the past three years, thanks to robust sales of semiconductor chips and foldable phones.
Samsung's Q3 2021 (ending September) revenue was KRW 73.9 trillion (around $63 billion), a 10% improvement over Q3 2020. The South Korean firm's operating profit was KRW 15.8 trillion (around $13.4 billion), a 26% jump compared to the same quarter last year. The company's operating profit in Q3 2021 turned out to be its highest over the past three years and the second-highest in Samsung's history.
Strong semiconductor chips sales helped Samsung the most
The South Korean tech giant said that its semiconductor chip business did well during the quarter, thanks to a boost from cloud servers and data centers. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, people have been working, collaborating, and learning remotely, and those technologies rely on servers, which use memory and storage chips. Samsung is the world's biggest memory chip manufacturer.
According to the company, its semiconductor business reported sales of KRW 26.4 trillion ($22.5 billion) during the third quarter, a 16% increase over Q3 2020. The company even benefited from the increasing sales of PCs and laptops used for hybrid work and gaming. Remember, the company is a contract manufacturer for Nvidia's GPU chips.
Sales of OLED panels for iPhone 13, Nintendo Switch, and other smartphones improved profits
The company's display manufacturing arm, Samsung Display, also did great, especially in the mobile segment. During Q3 2021, it reported sales of KRW 8.86 trillion (around $7.56 billion), a rise of 21% compared to the same quarter in 2020. Recently launched hit devices like the iPhone 13 and Nintendo Switch OLED use OLED panels from Samsung. Its large-display business suffered, though, due to declining LCD panel prices.
Samsung will soon launch Quantum Dot TVs to compete with LG's OLED TVs
Samsung's Visual Display Business, which makes TVs, monitors, and signage displays, started focusing on high-end products. The company said that it will soon launch Quantum Dot-based TVs to compete with LG's OLED TVs. Despite strong sales of the Bespoke lineup of home appliances, the South Korean firm said that profits have lowered due to the increased cost of materials.
Samsung expects smartphones sales to improve in Q4 2021, but chip crunch could trouble the company
Coming to smartphones, Samsung said that its smartphone business declined 8% to KRW 27.34 trillion (around $23.33 billion) despite solid sales of foldable devices like the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and the Galaxy Z Fold 3. However, the company expects strong sales in Q4 2021 due to intense holiday shopping in November and December. There might be a few problems related to the ongoing chip shortage.
The company's network business, Samsung Networks, improved. Its client list expanded in Japan and North America, and the company is trying to expand its business in Europe and Southwest Asia. Samsung Networks had recently unveiled new 5G network infrastructure equipment.
