Samsung doesn't need phone profits, vows to make foldables mainstream (Q2 results)
Samsung just announced the stellar earnings quarter it was teasing a fortnight ago, and it scored no less than $11 billion in profit. That's less than Apple, Google, or Microsoft which collectively raked in $54 billion, but then again Samsung's R&D investments in technologies of the future are unsurpassed, too.
Some of the billions ploughed in its R&D projects have gone to creating and popularizing the foldable phone niche virtually from scratch. Samsung made about $2.8 billion from phones in the second quarter, warning that the pandemic, seasonality, and supply challenges have weakened its revenue in the realm.
For the second half of the year, though, it expects the situation to better, unless COVID-19 strikes again with unforeseen challenges, while it is riding on the wings of new foldable phones:
Looking ahead to the second half, mobile market is forecast to recover to the pre-COVID level on an annual basis as 5G adoption and contactless trend continue to thrive. However, uncertainties over component supply and COVID-19 will continue to persist. The Company will strive to achieve solid revenue and profits by enhancing the competitiveness of its smartphone lineup with the launch of new foldable models and expansion of mass-market 5G models. Also, it will further increase sales of the Galaxy Ecosystem products.
With successful launch of the new foldable smartphones with further enhanced user experience, the Company will solidify its leadership in the premium segment by mainstreaming the foldable category while continuing the sales momentum of Galaxy S series throughout the year.
With successful launch of the new foldable smartphones with further enhanced user experience, the Company will solidify its leadership in the premium segment by mainstreaming the foldable category while continuing the sales momentum of Galaxy S series throughout the year.
The company is so bent on redefining the phone experience with foldables that it didn't bat an eye while commenting that it, in fact, doesn't really need its phone business to be very profitable while redefining the future with foldables, as the rest are doing great, thank you very much.
Samsung confirms a Galaxy Z Fold 3 selfie camera under the display
One of these "other" departments is Samsung Display which expects "demand to recover for mobile displays as major customers are planning to launch new flagship models, including high-value products such as foldable phones."
Now, those "major customers," besides the deluge of foldable phones, are also ordering regular OLED displays, and Apple is even expected to surpass Samsung as the phone maker that ships the most handsets with OLED screens for the first time this year.
That's not the only reason Samsung is bullish on its H2 Display department earnings but ut us also banking on introducing new and enticing screen technologies, too: "Samsung will continue to strengthen its market leadership by introducing new technologies such as Under Panel Camera (UPC) and low-power consumption related ones." There you have it, the Galaxy Z Fold 3's uninterrupted internal display with a selfie camera tucked underneath the panel, is now all but confirmed by Samsung itself.
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