Samsung Q3 hurt by TVs, PC displays, chips

Samsung's finalized summer results late Thursday showed that its net profit had dropped 23 percent from year-to-year as its chip and display groups offset its smartphone success. Its summer quarter made it a relatively modest $3.1 billion, which was also down slightly from the spring. It had been dragged down mostly by slow sales of TVs and traditional computers, which led the display division to lose money, as well as a chip business for mobile processors and memory that had its own profit cut in half to $1.42 billion.

Operating profit was still over double to $2.3 billion, and came mostly on the back of runaway success with phones like the Galaxy S II. Samsung didn't say publicly how many cellphones and smartphones had shipped, although leaks have pointed to it moving over 20 million smartphones and topping Apple's 17.07 million iPhones. The success isn't expected to repeat as Apple was seeing a lull while customers waited for the iPhone 4S, which is already setting company records for sales.

Samsung's fall quarter may get a lift from holiday sales across the board, although most of that is expected to still come from smartphones like the Galaxy Nexus as well as related components that it supplies to itself and even customers like Apple, such as flash memory and mobile screens.

No mention has been made so far of the impact of Apple-requested preliminary bans on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia and Germany as well as a brief ban on the Galaxy phone line. [via WSJ]

By Electronista Staff