Samsung Electronics Co. posted better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter of its fiscal year. The South Korean company posted net income of 6.1 trillion won ($5.2 billion) for the September quarter, higher than the 5.5 trillion won average of analysts. Overall, the company made 62 trillion won ($53 billion) in revenue, a year-over-year decline of 5 percent.
Samsung reported improved mobile earnings due to strong sales of the Galaxy Note 10 and A-series phones. Samsung says the Note 10 is selling better than the 9 and counted 85 million unit sales in the third quarter, but didn’t break out individual sales figures. The mobile business posted profit of 2.92 trillion won ($2.5 billion) on revenue of 29.25 trillion won ($25 billion), a 32 percent and 17 percent increase year-over-year, respectively.
Profit was also slightly up for the display panel business, which did well selling small and mid-sized OLED panels. There were declines year-over-year in its memory chip business and Samsung’s own TV business. Samsung sells more memory chips than any other company on the planet and generates more revenue from semiconductors than any other vendor.
In 2020, Samsung expects 5G and foldable phones to further contribute to its bottom line. It has also projected a gradual recovery in the memory chip market. Samsung’s smartphone business, which has seen a number of setbacks in recent years, is beginning to increase its share of Android users in major European countries, South America and the Middle East. Samsung shares have risen more than 30 percent this year.
