Samsung expecting return to strong profits in Q3
Samsung is predicting a dramatic return to high profitability for the third quarter of 2015.
The South Korean electronics giant has had a relatively rough time of it over the past two years, suffering year-on-year profit drops across each of the last seven quarters.
That’s set to end when Samsung announces its profits for the third quarter.
Operating profits are expected to be 7.3 trillion won (£4.1 billion). That’s not just higher than analysts expected, it’s around 78 percent higher than the same period last year.
Samsung doesn’t comment on the reasons behind this dramatic return to financial form, but there are a couple of possible factors. The company brought forward the launch of its latest phablet, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, to earlier in September, allowing it more time to contribute to the Q3 figures.
It also launched a second high-end phablet during this period, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, which is a new move for the company.
Related: iPhone 6S Plus vs Note 5 vs S6 Edge+
But the main reason for Samsung’s profit spike could well be its continued success in the semiconductor business.
Samsung supplies chips not only to itself but to key rivals such as Apple. The latter’s ongoing success with the launch of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, then, will be filtering down to Samsung as a major component supplier.
Indeed, as Bloomberg points out, analysts believe that Samsung’s semiconductor earnings may have risen by 54 percent to 3.5 trillion won (almost £2 billion) in Q3.
See how the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ compares to its little brother: