Samsung expects profit dive as demand for memory and devices continues to slow

Samsung has released earnings guidance for its fourth quarter, and the prelim figures are sobering. The Korean tech giant said it expects an operating profit of ₩4.3 trillion ($3.4 billion) – a 69 percent drop from Q4 2021. That's the largest profit drop the company has faced in nearly a decade, but it hasn't seemed to phase …

[Anonymous Coward]

New shiny not always best

I have a Dell i5 and an iMac 5k 2012 version.

They both run everything I require to do my job, one or two slight upgrades over the years but they are still working fine.

Samsung and Apple should be worried their kit is to expensive and unless I want to play a game there is no need to upgrade.

Now crypto has burst the GPU frenzy will subside their profits will come down massively.

[M.V. Lipvig]

They should can the Bixby group

We've been buying Samsung phones since our second or third round of smartphones, the first being an iPhone trainer. Think we had LG after the iPhone. Then Samsung bloated it up with Bixby. When I needed a new phone a couple of months back, I bought a Motorola Moto G just to avoid Bixby. No, the Moto is not as good, but was worth it to avoid that resource hog. Bixby has cost them at least one sale from a previous Samsung-only customer.

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: They should can the Bixby group

I was a Samsung Note user since the Note #1, had that, a #3 and a #4, the latter of which I was sweating as later models lost features (replaceable battery, IR blaster). The #4 died, I looked in the market, and ended up with a Moto G Pro Stylus for a fraction of what current Note would cost. OK, I don't have an IR blaster any more, but then then the latest Notes don't. I don't have a replaceable battery,.. oh neither do Notes. I do have a stylus, and while it isn't as refined as the S-Pen, it's good enough for shopping lists. So what do I think of the Moto? It's a phone. It does phone stuff. I'm happy with that.

[Anonymous Coward]

They have more to worry from eventually-former customers like myself who are so disgusted by the amount of nagging "utilities" you can't remove on a Samsung that they would never consider buying another. Nice screen and all, but my next phone is more likely to be a Pixel. At least that will minimize the amount of crapware pre-installed.

[Dan 55]

Yeah, but then you're dealing with bugs and customer service even worse than Samsung's.

If you want a fairly untouched Android then try a Sony Xperia or Nokia.

[Rattus]

Short term memory problem....

follow my thinking here

(1) world wide pandemic. Production of semiconductors pretty much halts.

(2) supply chain empties: Those who are still able to manufacture end product (Not chips) buy what they can and stock pile it

Semiconductor fabs yield high profits because of inflated prices and limited availability of their product (supply and demand)

(3) Pandemic eases: Production re-starts

Sales begin high as there is demand for the "first off" the production lines as people desperate for previously exhausted parts buy

Semiconductor fabs yield well but not as good as the previous phase (because semiconductors are built in batches, and whilst the initial part of the batch sells the rest goes into re-stocking the supply chain)

(4) "Near Normal" (I can't call it back to normal)

Sales returning to pre-pandemic levels

Sales are down (and by comparison to the boom of the last 2 phases this is true)

Why is this even a story?

/Rattus

[fnusnu]

Would be good to see them focus on maintaining older phones and other devices to help people through the cost of living crisis and to burnish their environmental credentials.

[Ace2]

“Only”

“Only” a profit of $3.4 billion for the quarter.

Wall Street sucks dead monkey nuts, but everyday it becomes more depressingly obvious that it’s the only way we see the world now.

See also: when unemployment drops, the stock market goes down. Heaven forbid people should have jobs and be able to feed their families.

[Down not across]

Re: “Only”

Hear hear. The Wall Street induced chase for eternal growth and ever increasing profits in insane.

I remember when companies used to look after their employees, there was loyalty both ways and it was sufficient to be enough in black that in addition to normal business operations there was bit in the kitty for investment/improvement and for rainy day.

[GraXXoR]

69 percent down?

Interesting decline.

That’s the same amount of decline the iPhone 14 series has faced here in Japan compared to the heady heights of the iPhone 12 days.

It’s not just Samsung facing the post pandemic pinch.

I’m seeing the same thing happening in the ripen graphics card market, too: wistfully priced, high-end Nvidia parts sitting in the shelves gathering dust.

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: 69 percent down?

Shouldn't the 'flagship' bubble have burst by now? Just what do we expect our phones to do, these days? I can do all the obvious phone and messaging stuff, web browse, listen to music, and watch video. How much 'more' do we need? Phones should be at commodity price points (to be fair, many are) so is it worth spending thousands on a 'flagship'? I don't get it. I don't need a super camera, the 48MP on my Moto is good enough. I don't need health sensors, and if I did, there are watches that do that. I don't need a bendy phone. It seems we're at a similar point to where we were with non-smart phones, when to desperately justify prices we saw blinged out Nokias with 'concierge services' and other such wannabe VIP crap. It's time to wake up, nobody is impressed with our phone these days, it's just a frikking phone.