Will Samsung Electronics post earnings surprise in Q1?

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics is scheduled to announce its preliminary earnings for the first quarter on April 7, and all eyes are on whether the tech giant will be able to log a better-than-expected performance, despite a series of difficulties such as the shutdown of its U.S. chip plant and a drop in the won-dollar exchange rate.

Market consensus for Samsung's January-March performance is expected at 60.27 trillion won ($53.32 billion) in sales and 8.64 trillion won in operating profit, according to data by market researcher FnGuide, improving markedly from a year ago, when sales totaled 55.35 trillion won and operating profit reached 6.44 trillion won.

Before entering the first quarter, Samsung's semiconductor business was expected to enjoy soaring chip demand, but the business was forecast to post a modest performance due to power outages at its chip-making plant in Austin, Texas, and the impact of the exchange rate.

In February, Samsung had to shut down its contract-based chip-making factory in Austin due to power outages after an unprecedented winter storm. Samsung said the operation of the facility is now back to normal, but industry analysts estimate the company could see a loss of around 300 billion won.

Despite the issues, industry analysts are revising their forecasts of Samsung's first-quarter performance as demand for the firm's smartphones and home appliances increased during the first three months of 2021.

To fill the vacuum left by China's Huawei and to defend its status as the world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung has been releasing new handsets aggressively this year. Huawei, the third-largest smartphone maker in 2020, decreased its handset production after being hit by the U.S. government's sanctions banning the company's supply of components made with U.S. equipment, software and designs.

Samsung unveiled its flagship Galaxy S21 smartphone in January, about a month earlier than the release date of the previous S series phones, aiming to improve its market share. The company also lowered the price of the Galaxy S21 to 999,900 won ($885) from the 1.24 million won ($1,100) price tag of the Galaxy S20 to better compete with Apple's iPhone 12.

Thanks to these efforts, Samsung sold around 24 million smartphones worldwide in February to grab a largest market share of 23.1 percent, according to data by Strategy Analytics. The company was followed closely by Apple, which sold some 23 million iPhones to account for a 22.2 percent market share.

The company's home appliance business has also continued to enjoy soaring demand as increased telecommuting has prompted more people to buy new gadgets.

Roh Geun-chang, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, said Samsung could post an operating profit of 10 trillion won in the first quarter, mainly due to the improved sales performance of smartphones.

“At a time when every industry sector is struggling with supply issues, it is necessary to raise Samsung's profit-creating ability once again. It also seems necessary to reevaluate Samsung's superior supply chain management capability,” the analyst noted.

He added that Samsung is expected to sell around 76 million smartphones, including more than 10 million Galaxy S21s, and its smartphone business is estimated to post an operating profit of 4.8 trillion won, followed by the chip business with 3.8 trillion won, consumer electronics with 1.1 trillion won and displays with 460 billion won in the first quarter.