Samsung estimates record $7.3 billion quarterly profit
updated 09:36 pm EDT, Thu October 4, 2012
Next quarter affected by Apple lawsuit, counter-marketing
Ahead of a late-October official announcement, Samsung Electronics is estimating a quarterly profit of $7.3 billion, marking the fourth straight record-breaking quarter. Samsung attributes strong sales of its Galaxy line of smartphones as the driving force behind the profits, offsetting reduced orders for processors and displays from Apple, both it's primary customer and rival.
"Fourth-quarter profit will be pressured by one-off expenses: performance payouts and some $1 billion in legal provisioning relating to the Apple litigation. Excluding those, core earnings will remain solid and a swing factor is how much Samsung spends on marketing," said Lee Sun-tae, analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
Samsung is valued at $197 billion and remains the world's leading maker of televisions, smartphones and memory chips. The annual expected profit of 28 trillion won ($25 billion) will trigger performance-related payouts to nearly all of Samsung's 206,000 personnel next year.
In the October 26 official quarterly report, Samsung is expected to address lowering its financial reliance on chip manufacture next year due to a weak economic market worldwide and decreased demand. Commodity prices of DRAM prices dropped 14 percent in the last quarter alone.
