Samsung Proves Its Business Remains Sound

Samsung Proves Its Business Remains Sound
Dražen Tomić

Samsung underscored the resilience of its business when it reported its best operating profit in three years, weathering the death of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 with the help of its workmanlike chip and display divisions and cheaper smartphones, according to Bloomberg. The world’s largest maker of mobile devices posted a 50 percent surge in quarterly operating profit after demand from Chinese smartphone brands pushed up memory chip prices and buoyed the unit that makes OLED screens.

Samsung also touched up an older phone line-up with new colors and features, helping tide it over in the Note 7’s absence. The company is emerging from its biggest corporate crisis, when reports of incendiary Note 7s forced the Korean company to kill its most profitable gadget. It still hasn’t revealed the results of a subsequent investigation into an episode that cost Samsung more than $6 billion and assured Apple of the lead in premium devices over the holidays. It’s now counting on its next marquee phone to repair its reputation.

Operating income rose to $7.8 billion in the quarter ended December, its biggest profit in three years, the company said in preliminary results. That compares with the average of analysts’ estimates. Samsung is counting on its flagship Galaxy S line this year to fire up a beleaguered mobile division. The next iteration of the phone is said to feature a bezel-less display and voice-enabled digital assistant. But the company’s also warned of slowing key markets and growing uncertainty around trade protectionism and currency fluctuations.