Samsung’s Q4 2020 operating profit rises 26.7% after strong chip, display sales

Samsung has been doing quite well over the past year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the company announced its earnings guidance for Q4 2020, and it expects strong results for the period, thanks to strong sales of semiconductor chips and display panels.

The South Korean tech giant expects its sales to reach KRW 61 trillion (around $55.9 billion) and its operating profit to rise to KRW 9 trillion (around $8.2 billion). Compared to Q4 2019, Samsung’s operating profit is expected to rise by 26.7%. For the whole year, the company’s profit is expected to be KRW 35.9 trillion (around $32.9 billion), an increase of 29.4% from KRW 27.7 trillion (around $2.54 billion) in 2019.

Despite lower smartphone sales in 2019, Samsung appears to be doing extremely well, thanks to solid sales of display panels and semiconductor chips. While Samsung didn’t reveal detailed numbers, market experts believe that KRW 4 trillion (around $3.66 billion) out of its KRW 9 trillion profit came from its semiconductor business, while KRW 2.3 trillion (around $2.1 billion) could be from the smartphone business.

Samsung’s profit from the smartphone business appears to have dropped compared to 2019 due to sluggish sales and the launch of Apple’s iPhone 12 series. Sales from its consumer electronics business is expected to be KRW 800 billion in Q4 2020, down from Q3 2020, where it experienced pent-up demand after the COVID-19 lockdown.

The company will reveal its complete numbers after a few days. It recently announced new Neo QLED TVs and is expected to unveil the Galaxy S21 series and the Galaxy Buds Pro next week.