“The slump in Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) that wiped out $28 billion of market value in six weeks will deepen as Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Chinese rivals take market share in handsets, according to the stock’s most-accurate forecaster,” Sharon Cho reports for Bloomberg.
“Shares of Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung fell 13 percent since Nov. 29, losing more market capitalization than any other company worldwide,” Cho reports. “The stock will sink another 11 percent, said Adnaan Ahmad, an analyst at Berenberg in London whose recommendations during the past 12 months produced the best return among forecasters tracked by Bloomberg.”
“Ahmad says investors will sell as operating profit margins at Samsung’s mobile business shrink,” Cho reports. “‘Selling is totally justified because the market now understands that the margin profile will change drastically,’ Ahmad, who has covered technology companies for 16 years at firms including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley, said in a phone interview on Jan. 7. ‘Samsung is in a very precarious position in the next 12 to 18 months.’ … Sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 have slowed amid competition from the iPhone 5s and 5c, along with Chinese handsets priced as low as $100. Samsung also faces a new challenge in China after Apple struck a deal last month to sell the iPhone through China Mobile Ltd. (CHL), which had 763 million users at the end of November.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Gee, that’s too bad. 🙂
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “AlanAudio” for the heads up.]