Samsung profit misses estimates as cheap phones struggle

Samsung “posted second-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates on competition from Chinese makers and gains in the Korean won,” Jungah Lee reports for Bloomberg. “Operating income fell about 24 percent to 7.2 trillion won ($7.1 billion) in the three months ended June, the company said, the third straight quarterly drop.”

“Samsung is counting on demand for fourth-generation devices to revive growth as Apple Inc. lures premium customers and Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd. (992) pack features into cheap phones to lure budget buyers,” Lee reports. “Currency moves cut the value of overseas earnings as the South Korean company’s grip on the market for screens larger than 5 inches faces new competition, with Apple said to be preparing bigger iPhones.”

“The operating profit of 7.2 trillion won compares with the 8.1 trillion-won average of 34 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Expectations have been scaled back for Samsung with at least 25 analysts cutting earnings estimates in the last four weeks. The average operating profit estimate has fallen about 13 percent from 9.3 trillion won on May 12,” Lee reports. “Sales were about 52 trillion won in the quarter, the company said today. That compares with the 53.2 trillion-won average of 37 estimates.”

“‘We see some concerns in the second half of the year as Apple is set to launch iPhone 6 device with larger screen size,’ Marcello Ahn, a Seoul-based analyst at Quad Investment Management Co., said by phone today,” Lee reports. “Suppliers to Apple in China will begin mass production of its largest iPhones ever next month, with screens as large as 5.5 inches, according to people familiar with the plans. Any move by Apple, which uses a 4-inch display on its current iPhone 5s, would weaken Samsung’s grip on the market for large screen devices”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Perhaps crime doesn’t pay forever?

An iPhone with a larger screen option will hurt Samsung immeasurably more than myriad, unending traipses through the legal morass.MacDailyNews, May 2, 2014

And, all of Samsung’s phones are cheap, regardless of the price tags they hang upon them.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mike Caine” for the heads up.]

21 Comments

  1. When I submitted the story I was trying to point out that the original headline of

    “Samsung profit misses estimates as cheap phones struggle”

    Had been changed to

    “Samsung Sees Phone Rebound After Earnings Miss Estimates”

    Wonder if Samsung advertises with Bloomberg?

  2. So what will most analyst say. The results indicate the desperate situation that Apple is in. The low end market will kill Apple. As for Samsung this is just temporary. Their innovation machine is working incredibly well. Next They’ll be coming out with a larger triangular screen display which will be an absolute Apple

    1. Lol…
      Samdung tactics:
      Sue people who write negative reviews
      Bribe people to write bogus positive reviews.
      Bribe people to write negative about competition.
      Rig phone performance benchmarks.
      Copy copy copy .

      Now Bloomberg is joining the party !

  3. Consumers get smart over time.

    A certain brand or two gets recognized as being the “gold standard”, as people see “the value”, which often their friends see, and today, they see used in movies and on TV.

    You don’t see Xamxung tires on BMWs and Mercedes.

  4. On the market share thing…

    Comparing Samsung to Apple is like comparing McDonalds to In & Out Burger. (Sorry my non-Califonia residing brethren, you may not know what In & Out is).

    McDonalds makes everything, makes it cheap, and tries to keep up on the trends by making cheap knock off versions of things others have mastered. They added “McCafe’s” in most locations w/free wi-fi to pretend to be like Starbucks. They add sugar & salt laden apple slices to kids meals to act healthy. They can only add profit by making current products cheaper, or offering some sort of loss leader product. They can’t introduce a new high-end flagship product and charge a premium for it. Not gonna happen.

    If you go to In & Out, they make a single burger, a double burger, and french fries. They make really good burgers & fries. There is a line out the door and the drive-thru from open to close. Period. They don’t make breakfast, salads, coffee, kids meals, etc.

    If you took ONE In & Out location and compared it to ONE McDonalds location – In & Out would destroy them both in gross & net profit and customer satisfaction.

    But – McDonalds does have a larger market share in hamburgers.

    1. In & Out also uses fresh products, McD and the other national burger shops buy frozen french fries from Simplot. In & Out peels, cuts and fries them right in front of you. They are proud that they have no freezers, just refrigeration. They also pay their employees quite a bit more than the big chains.
      It sounds like you do not know about the “secret” menu. They do serve a few more things than the menu says. My nephew likes the cheese sandwich. You can find the secret menu on the internet. Try it, you will look a pro at the cash register. There are lines at every In & Out I have seen. Greatd food, good prices.

  5. The Samsung earnings preview, the increasing amount of iPhone sold YoY and other data prove consumers desire a safe, reliable, state-of-the-art device, not some flawed piece of junk selling at the same price point, e.g., Android security issues, phones catching fire, etc.

    I was reading some of the comments under the iPhone screen torture test video published yesterday and many hardcore Android fans stated they will be purchasing the iPhone 6 if the screen is made out of sapphire.

    Going forward, the companies that sell high-end smart phones will feel the squeeze even more then they do now. The company that sells the most high end phones will feel the largest pain and that company is Samsung.

  6. Samsung should just use their copying skills and copy won and dollar bills.

    save them a lot of hassles. Not as if Chairman Lee hasn’t been convicted and sentenced to jail before…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.