Samsung’s Smartphones Took Another Hit in Most Recent Quarter

Samsung announced its most recent quarterly earnings. Among the notable news: Profits from its smartphone business fell by 40 percent year-over-year.

Samsung posted an operating profit of $5.32 billion on revenues of $44.94 billion for the quarter ending March 31. The firm noted that its earnings were “weighed down” by the weakness in memory chips and displays, although the newly launched Galaxy S10 smartphone “logged solid sales.”

Despite this, Samsung posted its worst quarterly profits in two years, and profits in its smartphone business fell by 40 percent YOY to $1.97 billion. It also noted that its smartphone business experience at YOY “decrease in sales volume” thanks to “softer demand in the overall smartphone market.”

As bad, Samsung was forced to delay its first-ever folding phone, the Galaxy Fold, this month because of rampant reliability issues. But Samsung says it will figure out the problems with the device and launch it later in the year.

“Samsung Electronics have been preparing Galaxy Fold for a long period and there’s no change to our direction to provide premium experiences for customers desiring innovation,” Samsung vice president Lee Jong-min said. Samsung also plans to deliver its first 5G handset this quarter.