[AJU NEWS CORP DB]
South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Friday its operating profits for the fourth quarter of 2015 was estimated to have risen 15 percent on year on year to 6.1 trillion won ($5.10 billion), below the 6.6 trillion won expected by market analysts.
The interim result suggests company’s business is making a recovery but at a slower pace than analyst had expected.
In his New Year message, Samsung Electronics CEO Kwon Oh-hyun warned employees that 2016 could be another challenging year for its business units, which range from smartphones to semiconductors to display panels
Samsung is under pressure from Apple in the high-end of the smartphone market, while China’s Huawei and Xiaomi, are competing with it in the mid- and low-end sectors.
Slowing economic growth in China and weaker emerging market currencies are undercutting sales for market leaders Samsung and Apple.
Apple Inc shares dropped below $100 for the first time in nearly five months on Wednesday following reports of slowing shipments of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus
But Huawei’s smartphone shipments defied the slowdown and jumped 44 percent last year, underscoring the tough competitive environment for market leaders Samsung and Apple.
By Alex Lee
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
