Samsung confirmed a strong increase in first-quarter results, with net profit up 52 percent year-on-year to KRW 11.69 trillion. Revenues rose 19.8 percent to KRW 60.56 trillion, led by its semiconductor and smartphones activities, and operating profit improved 58 percent to KRW 15.64 trillion.
Sales growth was strongest at the semiconductor unit, up 33 percent to KRW 20.78 trillion. That includes a 44 percent increase in memory revenues to KRW 17.33 trillion. Operating profit at semiconductors nearly doubled year-on-year to KRW 11.55 trillion. Samsung said it saw strong demand for server DRAM and SSDs, but the smartphone memory demand remained weak. It expects demand for LSI components for smartphones to slow in Q2 as well.
The company's smartphone division reported revenues of KRW 27.66 trillion for Q1, up 23 percent year-on-year thanks to the early launch of the Galaxy S9 and continued sales of the previous S8. However, Samsung warned that margins will take a hit in Q2 compared to Q1 as it steps up marketing spending to maintain the momentum in the face of "stagnant" sales of premium models. In the second half of 2018 it will focus more on the rest of its portfolio, streamlining its low and mid-range models, while also launching another new flagship model and expanding the Bixby digital assistant to more devices.
Consumer electronics was the one area of weakness in Q1, with sales down 5 percent to KRW 9.75 trillion. Samsung said it expects better results going forward this year, as events like the World Cup support TV sales. The company also released sales figures for Harman showing the audio division growing strongly, with sales up 261 percent in Q1 to KRW 1.94 trillion.
